Knowledge and Belief
by Ktkat9
Summary: Jack shares his longest protected secret with the Guardians, which leads them to discover that just knowing they exist doesn't automatically mean they are believed in. And Bunny in particular realizes just how far he's willing to go just to gain back a believer. After all, where there's hope, there's a chance. Post movie Pooka!fic.
1. Chapter 1

North knew it was a long shot. He was putting his heart on the line, and his pride, but as a warrior and as a guardian, he had risked more. And should the worst-case scenario come to pass, Jack would at least know that the offer was there.

"It is right this way."

He had spent so long throwing himself into his work as a way to deal with his guilt. And although the children of the world were thrilled with the surplus results, the problem wasn't being solved, just tiptoed around.

"You will love it."

The others didn't know he had done this, just that he had been extra busy as of late. However, as his signature holiday was coming up, that was hardly unusual.

"Here we are." He stopped and announced grandly.

Jack looked up at him excitedly. "Behind the door?" He reached out to the solid oak door, clasped his small hand around the polished doorknob built for the hands of North and the Yetis, and tugged it open.

North, although he himself had designed the room and built most everything in it, couldn't resist gazing around in pride. The far wall was nothing but windows. The boy would have the best view in the North Pole, and all the cold air and escape hatches he could want. North had made a point of deactivating Santoff Clausen's heating system in this room, and had instead installed an air conditioning unit. Before retrieving Jack, he had switched it on and had a little fun setting up some examples as to why he had put it in in the first place.

"Are those… _snowmen?_ Like, _real_ snowmen? Inside?" Jack grinned broadly as he spun around to take it all in. Santa was a master of wonder, of course, but it still warmed his heard to see the disbelieving expression on the face of a boy who was practically the embodiment of fun.

"They most certainly are." He had waterproofed the room so the extended exposure to snow wouldn't damage it, and left the windows open the night before. Now everything was covered in a light dusting of white powder.

"North… wow. This-," Jack paused by the oversized bed and let his joyous expression drop. "I don't know what to say. What is all this?"

"Yours. It is yours." North walked over to the closet and slid the door open. "I had yetis make you some clothes, as well. You can't just keep going around in same clothes all the time."

"I… This is… mine?" North, too, let his smile drop as he watched Jack continue to examine everything. The piles of stuffed dolphins, penguins, bears, puppies, and yetis at the head of the bed, their fur softer than any he had felt before (though he had never felt a brand new stuffed animal before, either), the wide beams hanging just a few feet below the insanely high ceiling (should he desire a perch with a little more altitude), the bowls North had set out for him, each filled with a different snowman accessory (coal buttons and eyes, striped scarves, carrots, perfect twig arms, stovepipe hats, and he had even dug up a few old pipes), books from every era, mainly of fantastical adventures and exciting new creatures, decorating a bookshelf in the corner.

"Jack, you can live here." North wasn't used to being soft, but this child was one he had failed for the past three centuries. One who had had the strength to team up with those who had failed him to take down the Boogeyman himself. He needed to make things right. "This room… is for you."

"I have my own place-,"

"Use this room when you are here, then. Or when Burgess is too warm." North knew he was pleading, but a lake was no place for a guardian. Especially not when the rest of them were living so lavishly.

Jack still seemed hesitant. "I can't just move this far away. Not from the kids-," He broke off with an almost imperceptible widening of his eyes, but then continued on. If North hadn't been studying his face so intently, he would have missed it. Dismissed it for a stutter. "The Burgess kids are expecting snow days now that school's almost out." He grinned airily, pulling on his aloof mask like a security blanket. The offer of a permanent home, of sudden stability, scared him. North could see it as easily as he had seen Bunny's fear of flying, or Tooth's fear of plaque. But there had just arisen another topic that needed addressing, no matter how badly he didn't want to have to be the one to say it.

"Jack, you are immortal. Is not-," he heaved a sigh heavy with many lifetimes' worth of experience and passed a hand over his broad face. "You should not get too attached to individual children. Their time always comes, and it never gets easier to see. Is why we distanced ourselves from them in the first place."

The atmosphere of wonder, joy and excitement was officially gone. Jack clutched his staff tightly, body positioned slightly behind it, as if it were a shield capable of protecting him from North's words. When he finally spoke, his voice was thick and his gaze was glued to the floor. "I know. Trust me, North; I know that better than you think. I just… you wouldn't understand. They need me."

"Jack, you are a guardian. They need the belief. They need what we protect for them: wonder, memories, dreams, hope, and fun. Imagine what Jamie's life will be like when he's a grown man still getting visits from a person nobody else can see."

"I'm not talking about Jamie. I-," Jack seemed to realize he'd said too much and shut his mouth with an audible snap.

"Jack?"

"I… I have a son."

Yyyyy

Well well well! What have we here? Looks to be another remedy for writer's block on another story! This one, though, has been in my head for so long my choices were either write it down now, or forget about it all together. Please let me know how I'm doing on this! Review or Pitch will come down your chimney! :3


	2. Chapter 2

North was certain he'd heard wrong. "You… have a what?"

"I said some. Somewhere I need to go. I just remembered." Jack picked up his staff and headed for the nearest window. "Thank you for the room, by the way. I'll be sure to make good use of it."

"Jack. Jack stop. Wait. You have a son?" North was desperately trying to get the gears in his brain working again before the sprite could pull one of his vanishing acts.

"It was a slip of the tongue, North. How could _I_ have a kid? I was invisible until two years ago." Jack pasted his usual grin back on his face, and North couldn't tell if it was real or not.

"You do, uh, realize…" he let the sentence hang in the air, knowing (hoping) the boy could finish it himself.

He did, and his face turned from pale frosted to beat red. "No, North. I have not… done _that_ … with anyone!"

"Just wanting to make sure." The man had spent centuries determining how to tell when children were lying, but this child had spent centuries teaching himself the finer point of how to get away with it (among other things). He realized this now as he studied Jack's grin, slipping so easily back onto his face. It had been two years since he had become a guardian, but there was still so little they knew about him. For all they knew, he _could_ have had a child with someone. Heck, after all the time he'd been alone, he could have had-

"North, I know what you're thinking." He dropped his grin and looked him right in the eye. "I promise you, right now, that I have never in my sixteen years of life, nor in my three hundred years of afterlife, had sex. But I do have to go." He turned back to the window and this time, North could read the embarrassment on his face loud and clear. Just as he was passing the bed, though, he paused and examined the stuffed toys. Hesitantly, he reached out and selected a yeti. "Do you, uh, mind?" He held it aloft and looked at the huge man.

"Is yours. Go ahead." In all his years of being Santa, North had seen several children gaze in various degrees of wonder, joy, and disbelief at their gifts, but Jack held his toy so gingerly, smiled so sadly, and tucked it under his hoodie so carefully that North found himself once again berating himself for never having made him a gift in all the Christmases he had been a wandering winter spirit.

And as Jack opened the window and flew out, he made another realization; he had not made gifts for the other guardians since their first year together. Frowning, he left the room, shutting the door behind himself, and returned to his study to plan. This upcoming Christmas was going to be great. He'd make sure of it.

Yyyyy

"You don't think he was being serious do you?" Bunny asked, half of his attention on the pink and green egg in his hands. He was attempting to add a bit of a swirl and didn't want to be more distracted by another of Jack's pranks than necessary.

"Bunny with you, he jokes. With me, there is no eternal competition. He tends to be more… straightforward." North adjusted his weight on the boulder he was seated on. His conversation with Jack had been playing over and over in his mind until he wasn't sure if the boy's expressions had been real or made up by his mind's desire to see something that wasn't there. He could no longer keep this just to himself. Tooth, of course, would freak out, and Sandy was currently busy, what with everyone being on winter break. It was hard enough getting kids to go to sleep on a normal night.

"So, what? You think he's actually got a kid out there?" Bunny finished the egg, smiled in success, and let it down to wander off.

"Is Jack. I don't know. He is good kid, but… also a teenager who has been without guidance for ridiculous amount of time." North didn't want to think that Jack had lied to him, but if he _did_ have a son, the problem was bigger than teaching the merits of truth telling. Pitch, for one, was a threat. The fact that Jack was immortal, and a guardian. Not to mention that he was practically _homeless_.

Bunny considered picking up another egg, but decided he wouldn't be able to give it the attention it deserved as long as this current dilemma was on the table. "Why don't we just ask him straight up? And this time, don't accept lame excuses."

North looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. What if it really was just tongue slip? I could be making big deal out of nothing."

"Then you're wasting my time for nothing. I'll get to embarrass Jack and he'll get mad at you. If it's nothing, it's nothing and that's your punishment. But since when have you ignored your gut instinct?" Bunny raised his eyebrow and pointed his paintbrush at his old friend. "I'll go get him. You stay here."

"Alright." North settled back down and watched as Bunny took off down one of the tunnels. Bunny was right. His belly had been telling him something was off.

Yyyyy

Jack had mentioned last time he'd seen the kid that the Burgess kids had just started their winter break and were now looking forward to snow days. It was just after dark had fallen, but Jack should still be in the area.

Bunnymund hopped deftly out of his hole and heard it close behind him, sprouting a flower as it did so. His eyes adjusted quickly to the dark as he made his way through the trees. He knew the way to the lake by heart, but that didn't mean he knew every thorny bush, or jutting out root, or sharp branch as well. By the time he heard the snarl behind him, he was about ready to just return to his warren and continue to paint while North wondered about every possibility of what Jack could have meant. The snow was just making the going worse.

He was almost at the lake when he detected movement behind him and an animalistic growl tore through the still night. Without hesitation, he threw himself forward onto all fours and bolted the rest of the distance. The last thing he wanted to encounter at the moment was a half-starved wolf with a taste for Easter Bunny.

He burst through the tree line and his eyes quickly scanned the clearing for his target. Jack sat, back towards him, at the edge of the lake. He had his staff resting against his shoulder as he froze ever-growing frosted patterns into the water's surface.

Not wanting to risk the wolf still being behind him, he skipped pleasantries and opened a hole right beside Jack, pulling the boy down into it before he'd even had a chance to realize he wasn't alone.

"Bunny! What the heck are you doing?" Jack exclaimed, desperately scrambling for a handhold in the pooka's fur. He was currently draped over one shoulder being held in place by one powerful arm while Bunny ran along on three legs.

"Just thought we'd have a quick chat, mate. At my warren." He released his hold without slowing down and the spirit lifted off and flew alongside him.

"Chat? About what?"

"You'll see." The tunnel opened up to a huge, familiar cavern and the pair slowed to a stop. North sat by the twisted spring plants, watching as they painted eggs various colors.

"Bunny, I was wondering if you would lend me a few of these. Painting presents would go faster-,"

"No, way. I got some seeds if you want to try to grow some, but these guys are mine. Jack's here, so why don't you just ask your question." Bunny flipped out a boomerang and began polishing it. His heart was still working an slowing down, but there was no way he was going to let that show.

North, meanwhile, appeared to be stalling. "So, Jack. How was Jamie? He is doing well in his studies I hope?"

"Um, he got eight out of twelve on his spelling test. He was bragging about it, so I assume that's good." Jack seemed to know that something bigger was being led up to, but didn't want to be the one to broach the subject.

"Good, good. Smart boy. So, speaking of boys…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really-," North broke off as Bunny let out a startled shout. A brown blur suddenly had him on the ground and was putting up a huge fight. Almost as quickly as it had started, though, the fight was over. Bunny managed to get his feet between his attacker and himself and kicked it off. It landed next to Jack in a heap but recovered quickly. It righted itself and placed itself between the Guardians of Hope and Fun and growled again, the exact growl that had followed Bunny in the woods.

When Bunny got a good look at it, though, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a young rabbit, trying as hard as he could to look menacing. A rabbit that was currently standing on his hind legs. And that was almost a foot taller than Jack. Gasping, Bunny put the word he was searching for, the word he was scared to say, lest it break the veil of dream and reality, to what he was seeing.

"Pooka. You're a pooka."

Yyyyy

Oh, no! Why would a pooka attack Bunny?! Thank you all for reading! I really hope you continue to enjoy this! Please review and let me know what you think! :3


	3. Chapter 3

Bunny could do nothing but stare. The young pooka was a great deal shorter than he was, but the look in his eyes let him know that this newcomer was not intimidated in the least. He had two ratty straps looping over his arms as if something were attached to his back. A buckle across his tan chest not only held the straps in place, but also a tiny, stuffed yeti. In shock, Bunny took a step forward, only to freeze as the pooka snarled again, paws curled into fists.

Suddenly, Bunny felt a severe stinging in his ear. Raising a paw, he was surprised to see it come away bloody. The blighter had _bitten_ him during their scuffle!

"What do you want with Jack?" The pooka growled.

"I-," But Bunny was cut off by Jack himself.

"That's enough, Elliot." The pooka, Elliot, dropped his ears so they fell down the back of his head and sat back on his haunches, looking every bit the part of a scolded child.

"But, but he… hmph." He snapped his gaze away from Jack, deciding instead to glare at the larger pooka.

North, this whole time, had watched the entire exchange in wide-eyed silence. He had been about to ask Jack about whether or not he actually had a son. "What just happened? Who are you?" He asked as soon as he found his voice.

The pooka turned to look at him in awe, as if he hadn't seen him there before, while Jack just rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"I'd like to know that myself." Bunny, still holding his ear, looked Elliot over again. He had surprisingly few markings on his fur for a pooka, mostly just brown with a tan underbelly, but his whiskers appeared to be solid black. Attached to his back by the straps was an old hiking backpack that looked as if it had seen better years.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag now." Jack tried to smile aloofly, but a look from Bunny had him biting his lip in shame. "This is Elliot. My son. I found him as a kit almost a century and a half ago."

"A century and a half." Bunny let that sink in. Jack had known he hadn't been the only one of his kind on earth for a _century and a half_ and he hadn't said anything.

"Yeah. I was just flying around London and-,"

"A century and a half." Bunny narrowed his eyes. The young pooka raised his hackles and focused his attention back on him, but made no move to attack again. Bunny ignored him. "You knew there was another pooka out there for a hundred and fifty years and you never said anything? Why the bloody hell would you keep something like that from me?"

"Because I made him promise to." Elliot crinkled his nose enough for Bunny to see his sharp front teeth. "He spent _years_ trying to track you down. Trying to get you to help me. Do you know how hard it is to raise a kid when you don't even know anything about the _species_? You just kept thinking he wanted to race or play around."

"All right, Elliot. That's enough." Jack tried to calm him down, but just got shrugged off. Elliot wasn't listening to him at the moment, much too focused on Bunny.

"And the blizzard of '68? It's the weather! Jack can't _create_ snow, and the wind doesn't obey his every command! He just nudges it along every now and then." Bunny suddenly found himself wondering whether or not he should be afraid. Sure, if the kid tried anything he knew who the better fighter was, but he wasn't sure he could end the fight without hurting him.

"Do you remember how you reacted to a few of your eggs getting covered in snow?"

Bunny's hackled raised at that. "Hey, it was more than that! I lost a lot of believers that day."

"Yeah, I know. I was one of them." Elliot sat back on his haunches and Jack placed a hand on his shoulder, not looking at Bunny.

"What do you mean?" The warren had never been this eerily silent before. The plants had stopped painting, the eggs had gathered around to watch, and even a few golems were facing their direction. Even North was silent as he watched the exchange.

"The fact that you exist has been a set in stone fact since before I can remember. Jack used to tell stories about you four all the time. About how you were guardians who protected kids each in your own way. He'd hide eggs for me, swap out my baby teeth with coins, make presents to hide under out tree, tell me stories before bed, all so I knew you were out there."

"He told you about us? Jack, you really did all that?" Bunny's ear was just a forgotten, dull throb by this point. Jack had played the role of four guardians just so this kit would believe in them.

The kit- Elliot narrowed his eyes. "1968 Easter Sunday. Do you remember what you did that night?"

With a sinking heart, Bunny realized what Elliot was leading up to. He had spent the entire night before and that early morning hiding eggs under bushes, in planter pots, under porch steps, even setting a few in window sills. He had been so excited. Until the snow had started to fall. He had been disappointed at first, but the weather had just grown worse and worse. By mid-day it had been a full-on blizzard, and Easter had officially been canceled. He had spent the day desperately attempting to unbury all the eggs, but nobody had been allowed out of the house to find them. The high winds had even knocked off the ones that had been in the windows. By the time he had run into the winter spirit that night, he had been livid.

"Who the hell do you think patched him up?"

Bunnymund felt his blood run cold. What he had done that night… this kid had been forced to deal with the aftermath.

North saw the tension between the three. "What happened? Bunny, what did you do?"

Bunny dropped his head and lowered himself to sit on his heels. "Nothing I'm proud of."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he blamed Jack for Easter being ruined. And took it out on him." Elliot, Bunny noticed, still hadn't moved from his position directly between him and Jack. "I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life. So, yeah. I made him promise to stop trying to get your attention after that. But now that he's a guardian, you have an excuse to kidnap him whenever you want."

"Ha-hang on. I didn't…" He broke off, realizing how it must have looked from Elliot's point of view. "Jack… things have changed between us. I'd never hurt him now." He knew it sounded lame, but it was the truth. And all he had.

"I used to believe that someone who dedicated their lives to giving hope to kids wouldn't hurt one. Then I had to spend a week stealing medical supplies and wondering if it was possible for a spirit to die."

"All right, Elliot, that's enough." Jack, a somewhat pained look adorning his face instead of his usual grin, tugged the pooka to his feet and led him back towards the tunnel they had arrived from. "I'll see you later North. Bunny."

The two remaining guardians sat in silence for a minute, Bunny absently opening a pouch in his belt for gauze and wrapping the slit in his ear. North stroked his beard thoughtfully while the eggs, plants, and golems went back to what they had been doing.

"Is not exactly how I expected to be proven right." He attempted to joke, but frowned when he saw the expression on his friend's face. "Bunny, Elliot seems like a smart boy. Show you are sorry, and I'm sure he'll eventually come around."

Bunny tilted his head in North's direction, but didn't look at him. "That's not the only thing I'm worried about. What the heck was that kit doing in London?"

Yyyyy

Two updates in one day! Yay! And we have officially met Elliot! What did you all think of him?

Weiver- Bunny is a pooka. A pooka!fic is just a story that involves another pooka, or Jack becoming/having always been a pooka. I'm glad you're enjoying this!

Please don't forget to review! :3


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe you did that, Elliot." Jack bereted as soon as he knew they were out of Bunny's earshot. "Look at yourself. You even lost your glasses."

The brown pooka hopped along beside the winter guardian, brooding silently as he was fussed over. "Now that he knows I exist, what's he going to do?"

"What?" Jack paused halfway through unzipping one of the smaller pockets in Elliot's backpack. The pooka always kept a spare pair of glasses on him.

Elliot stopped and turned to look at him. "I saw how he looked at me. I know he's thought he was the only one of his kind for a long time. Is he going to try to take me away from you? Because I know he's not going to just pretend that little show back there didn't happen and let me be." The look Jack got from the young bunny was filled with a mix of knowing and uncertainty.

Jack studied his face for a moment, then sighed and withdrew the glasses from the pocket. "He won't take you from me, don't worry. He wouldn't do that. But he's not going to stop trying to get to know you. He's as stubborn as a mule when it comes to something he wants."

Elliot blinked reflexively as the glasses were slipped over his eyes, frames looping around the bases of his ears. "What are we going to do now, then?" He twisted his head and used his back foot to scratch his neck. In the process, he jostled the yeti in his strap. "By the way." He examined the yeti, petting it gingerly, as if making sure it hadn't been injured. "Was that actually Santa?"

Jack could only chuckle.

Yyyyy

Three days before Christmas was the next time any of the guardians saw their newest member. North was going through the final checks before Christmas and had distracted his elves by having them deliver invitations to the other guardians. Not invitations to the annual Christmas feast, though. Those were too important to deliver via elf. He was sending them his annual S.O.S. letter. If they could lend any of their time at all to help finish the preparations, it would be much appreciated.

Tooth and Bunny arrived within an hour of each other and got to work with years of practiced directions. Boxes containing airplanes, trains, popguns, and cowboy gear shouldn't sport paper and bows depicting fairy princesses. Stockings should not have sticky-caramel candies in them (North and Tooth had been in debate over this one for years.) The breakable toys were to be stored more towards the top of the sacks while the heavier gifts were to be at the bottom.

North was just making his rounds with candy canes when he spotted the familiar blue hoodie through the sea of panicking yeti. Jack was leaning against a wall on the other side of the large room watching the proceedings with a mix of confusion and amusement. His staff was crooked comfortably on his arm and his hands were tucked into his hoodie pocket, but his eyes were excitedly trying to follow everything that was happening in front of him. Quickly pawning off his candy canes on the nearest yeti, along with instructions to put one in each stocking, (and a quick reminder that he understood yettish and knew a swear when he heard it,) North made his way over.

"Jack! Haven't seen you in weeks. What brings you here?"

"I was hoping to talk to you." Jack tore his gaze from the hustle and bustle and straightened up, gripping his staff. "Well, you and the other guardians, that is."

"You are in luck! Tooth and Bunny are here now! Sandy, however, couldn't make it. What did you want to talk about?" North wasn't stupid. He knew it was most likely going to be related to Elliot, but he also knew that it was best if Jack were the one to broach the subject.

"Could we talk somewhere quieter?" As soon as the words left his mouth, North saw how Jack's eyes widened and looked around the room wearily. He knew what was on his mind; _was_ there someplace quieter to talk? It was three days before Christmas at Santoff Clausen, and the place was busier than the airports this time of year. And just as crazy.

North laughed out loud. "Come, come. We can talk in your room. _Tooth! Bunny!_ " He waved them over and, with a massive hand clamped around the winter guardian's shoulder, led them down the hall.

"Uh, North," Jack halted and North almost lost his balance. "I brought Elliot with me. I hope that's okay."

"Is alright. He's not going to try to attack Bunny again, though, is he?" North raised an eyebrow, but Jack was quick to put his mind at ease.

"No, don't worry. I had a talk with him."

The four guardians reached the end of the hall and Jack opened the door to his room, the novelty still not lost on him. Inside, a rather large ball of fur was busy making bunny-angles in the snow. The frosted windows had all been doodled on, and the stuffed animals had been arranged on the bed with piles of tiny snowballs.

"Kit takes after you, I see." Bunny grumbled, trying to hide his amusement. Pooka didn't tend to like cold temperatures usually.

"Jack, Jack, Jack! This place is awesome! Is this really your room?!" Elliot hopped over and sat on his haunches in front of the spirit, wiggling excitedly.

"Yup! Pretty awesome, huh?" Jack stepped aside so the others could file all the way into the room and shut the door. Elliot lost some of his smile when he saw Bunny, but as a child in the fabled Santa's Workshop, nothing could erase his joy completely. "Elliot, I want you to meet North and Tooth. Guys, this is Elliot."

Tooth, being the last one through the door, didn't see Elliot right away. As soon as she did, though, her eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth. "Oh, my goodness. You… you're a… Bunny, he's like you."

"You're the Tooth Fairy! An-and Santa Clause!" Elliot breathed, just as shocked as the feathered fairy.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." North stuck out his massive hand to shake. The small pooka shifted his weight off of his front paws and wrapped then both around North's hand in awe.

Jack frowned when he noticed Bunny's narrowed eyes hadn't left the kit once since he'd entered the room. He didn't look mad, just calculating. Like he was trying to figure something out.

"Something's different about you. Since when do you wear glasses?"

Elliot dropped his front paws back to the ground, once again sitting on all four paws. "Since about seventy years ago. What's it to you?" He asked defensively.

"Pooka, bunnies, rabbits, we're all famous for good eyesight."

"That's a story for another time." Jack broke in. "Elliot and I came here to invite you all to Christmas dinner at our place. So you can all get to know each other. Of course, it can be a few nights after Christmas itself. I know you're going to be tired-" Jack stopped rambling when North laughed out loud.

"Christmas dinner at your place will be most welcome! And we will each bring a dish to contribute." North gestured with his hands to Tooth and Bunny, who both nodded in agreement.

"You two live together?" Tooth tilted her head in confusion. She didn't look any less enthusiastic to meet the young pooka, though.

"Long-," Jack glanced sheepishly at Bunny, who raised his eyebrows pointedly. "long story short, I adopted him a hundred fifty years ago."

"So, how old are you? In bunn- eh, _pooka_ years?" It looked like she already knew the answer, but was leading up to something; her tail feathers were beginning to twitch nervously.

"Well, I don't know exactly. We age slower than humans, but near as I can figure, I'm in my mid- to late-teens. Why?" Elliot tilted his head and Bunny caught himself wondering what the kit must have looked like when he had been small; all big eyes and curiosity, innocence and a whole world for him to explore. Had he listened to Jack, just _once_ , he could have been a part of that. What all had he missed out on? First steps, first words, Easters, holidays, birthdays. How many times had he wished he had someone else with him in his warren? Someone to share the wonders of spring, or show the ropes of egg hiding the world over? Had he really destroyed any possibility of that ever happening?

"I think I would have remembered collecting the teeth of a pooka." Tooth continued.

"Oh, I have all his baby teeth." Jack used his staff to draw her attention to him. "I didn't know about the whole 'memories of childhood' thing at the time, but I figured there must be a reason you collected them."

"Then why didn't you give them to me after the battle with Pitch?" She pressed, suddenly splitting her attention. She was now bent over, trying to get a better look at the teeth Elliot currently had in his head, much to North and Jack's amusement.

"To be honest, I kinda forgot. He lost his last tooth a _long_ time ago. Elliot, open up. Show her your pearly whites." Elliot, throughout this while conversation, had been gradually backing up, ears lowered in confusion and weariness, as Tooth tried to examine him.

 _"Ahh."_ He opened his mouth as far as it would go and Tooth gasped in delight. His teeth were enormous, much bigger than any human tooth she had ever seen, but almost as white as the winter teen's.

"Oh, wow! You've taken such great care of them! Did Jack teach you how?" Tooth gushed.

"Tooth, that's enough. The lad does not look like he enjoys the attention." North, thankfully, decided to point out how uncomfortable Elliot appeared at the sudden invasiveness.

"Oh." She withdrew sheepishly, blushing. "Sorry."

"So, do you think you'll all be able to make it to dinner? Sandy's invited too, of course." Jack slipped a hand in his hoodie pocket and absently twirled his staff with the other.

"Though, if not all of you can make it, there'll be no hard feelings. We're not exactly overflowing with spare chairs if you catch my drift." Elliot hardened his tone and stared directly at Bunny.

"My schedule's free. Wouldn't miss it for the world." Bunny replied coolly, staring right back.

"Elliot, that's enough." Jack caught his staff and shot a quick glare at his son, who avoided his look. "We'll see you all then. And I think I can guarantee another little surprise." Jack grinned and hopped out the window, being followed quickly by Elliot.

"'Another little surprise'?" Bunny growled. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm really starting to feel left out of the loop." Tooth buzzed around the room as North examined the giant bunny-angels and mini snowball fight Elliot had set up. The stuffed animals all appeared to be having fun, but something was off. North just couldn't out his finger on it.

"Hey, doesn't that one belong to the kit?" Bunny hopped over and pointed out one furry toy with the largest pile of snowballs.

North examined it, and then let out a laugh. "Looks like I finally get to wrap his first Christmas present from Santa Clause!"

Yyyyy

I did not expect to write this much! Next chapter was supposed to be the long one! (Which makes me a little nervous… I might have to split it in half. Or thirds.)

And to anyone who was wondering, (though I doubt it) yes, Elliot was named after one of my favorite characters from Alice in the Country of Hearts. (He's just so _CUTE_.)

Please don't forget to review! And does anyone have a guess as to what the surprise might be? :3


	5. Chapter 5

Bunny headed home that night at a much slower pace than he had arrived. After he became a guardian, the thought of finding others like him had been constant on his mind; his own little fantasy. He had imagined it several times, several scenarios, and what would happen.

Maybe he'd be hiding eggs one Easter and happen across some he didn't paint, scattered around a grassy, mountainside warren. A mama and her kits would emerge slowly as he was examining their handy work, tears in their eyes and paws over their mouths upon seeing another pooka. They'd invite him in and she would cook some homemade meal you could practically taste just by smelling the aroma that would gradually surround them while he entertained the kits, telling stories to the older ones and occupying the younger ones with toys.

Or maybe he'd be home, busy with a stuck golem or a sick plant and not paying attention. He'd be busy with what he was doing; fully engrossed until the stomping of his golems zeroing in on an intruder drew his focus to the entrance of one of his tunnels. A young buck would cautiously peek out, wandering eyes taking in the landscape until they came to rest on him. Maybe there would be a beat where he didn't register Bunny, letting his eyes slip past him, before snapping back in shock. Or maybe the reaction would be less dramatic, more real. Sudden and instant realization while Bunny was the one to remain still, attempting to make sense of what he was seeing.

Over the years, decades, centuries, he had amassed countless daydreams along these lines. Sometimes it would be an old, slightly senile pooka whose stories (fact or fiction would not matter to him) would keep him company among the eternal spring of his sadly empty warren. Sometimes it would be a large buck and his pretty mate who had mistaken him for an enemy at first in the middle of one of his Easter routes, or a young one, lost and wandering into one of his tunnels to seek shelter.

Whatever the scenario, he had always kept one factor the same; should he ever find out he wasn't alone on this planet, he and the newcomer would become the best of friends. Maybe, if it were multiple pooka, they would accept him into their herd. Or maybe they would start their own herd.

Bunny sighed and stopped just before the tunnel gave way to his warren. He didn't want to take that last step into the large, empty room. The eggs and golems were all asleep and the plants had closed up for the night. The only sound he could hear was the river of dye flowing along its course. Now that he knew there was another pooka out there, his home was beginning to feel unnaturally large and empty. He felt lonely.

If there was one thing he hadn't counted on in all of his years imagining 'what ifs', it was the look of defiance and anger, the flash of fear, and the curled lip Elliot had showed him. He had never considered another pooka not _wanting_ to know him.

"How do I make it up to him, Manny?" He directed his gaze towards the dirt ceiling, knowing the Man in the Moon would hear him regardless. "You know I've never asked for much. Please, I don't want to miss out on any more of his life than I already have. I know I messed up." He dropped his head and leaned against the wall, still not entering his home. "I messed up big time. Just give me the chance to make it right." He fell silent, waiting for a response he knew he wasn't going to get. Down below, a golem grunted sleepily. Bunny scoffed slightly and, in three leaps, reached his bed. Dinner was just three days away. He'd have his chance to get to know the kit better then.

Yyyyy

"Goodnight, Elliot." Jack patted the soft ears poking out from under the large blanket his son used.

"'Night." Came the sleepy reply. Jack smiled and turned to leave their cave when a paw snuck out form under the fabric and latched onto his hoodie. "Wait."

Jack stopped and looked back as Elliot pulled the blanket down and propped himself up on his elbows. "Do we really have to invite the Easter Bunny to Christmas dinner?"

Sighing, Jack sat down on the edge on Elliot's 'bed'. It was really just an arranged collection of rocks with grass and leaves piled on top in the form of a nest. Jack didn't quite understand it, but Elliot found it comfortable. "Bunny's a good guy." Elliot opened his mouth to protest, but Jack held up a hand to stop him. "We all have our faults. I'm not making excuses for him, but he helped save almost every child in the world. I'm working with him now, and I would appreciate it if you at least made the effort to get to know him. He lost his temper because he assumed I sabotaged Easter. He's not a bad guy."

"That doesn't mean I have to like him. And just because you forgave him doesn't mean I'm going to." Without another word, he rolled back over and buried his head back under his blanket.

"…Goodnight, Elliot." Jack patted the lump he knew was the pooka's arm and headed out to bring snow days to the world.

Yyyyy

Christmas night rolled around sooner than Bunny had anticipated. He made his way through his tunnels balancing a tray of veggies, his excuse for his slower-than-usual pace. In truth, he was starting to get nervous about this whole thing. He knew Elliot didn't like him. He knew Elliot had a _reason_ not to like him. Was it right for him to force his way into the kid's life just because he was the first pooka he'd seen in centuries? He was a guardian of childhood. _Pitch_ was supposed to be the one to force kids to experience what they were afraid of.

At that thought, Bunny froze. Had he really just compared himself to the Boogieman? "I am _not_ Pitch. Nothing like him. And I'm gonna prove it to that kit." With that, he opened a hole above him and jumped out, being careful of his dish. He had spent a while picking out some of the best foods he could find and didn't want to lose them here.

He heard the aster flower sprout behind him and walked the rest of the way to where he knew the cave was. Through the woods and around the lake, then up a little ways because the winter spirit didn't like being too close to the ground for too long. He had been over once but that had just been a quick visit to grab a spare hoodie. He hadn't noticed any sign of a kit living there then, but he hadn't been looking.

Finally, after stubbing a toe and almost dropping the tray, he made it to the cave entrance. Propped up on a boulder was a sign: _Guardian's Dinner this way_. Followed by an arrow directing him towards the woods behind the lake. Sighing, he steadied his food again and followed the arrow. And the next one. They appeared to be leading him down a well-worn path.

Five minutes of walking later, he began to hear voices up ahead. North's was clearly discernable, as was Jack's. Suddenly, a voice he didn't recognize rang out.

"I think I heard someone! Imma go see if one of your friends got lost!"

Before Bunny had time to process that _he_ was the 'someone', a huge silver pooka had hopped out of the bushes and skidded to a stop right in front of him.

"No _way_. I thought Elliot was kidding when he said you were coming!"

Yyyyy

Whoa, what is this! Another update _and_ another pooka? Let me know your thoughts! Next chapter, Bunny tries his hand at baby-, er… pookasitting. Don't forget to review! :3


	6. Chapter 6

The pooka in front of Bunny was almost as big as he was. Silver fur with a white underbelly and paws made him look a bit older, but the look in his dark brown eyes was nothing short of childlike.

"I can't believe you really here!" The new pooka had a bit of an accent that Bunny couldn't place, but that might have had something to do with the gears in his brain still trying to get running again.

"I was about to say something similar to you, too."

"Bunny! Glad you could make it." Jack nudged the pooka with his staff, getting his attention. "Are you going to let him join us, or just sit in the middle of the trail all night?" The two grinned at each other, apparently used to teasing. "Go help Elliot finish setting the table. We'll be right there." Jack glanced at Bunny sideways, and Bunny could see the kid knew what was coming. The silver pooka, however, seemed oblivious as he nodded and headed back up the trail leaving the two alone in awkward silence.

"…Sooo, you brought veggies. That's good. I've noticed that pooka love them. And I think Tooth will approve, after seeing all the sugary things North brought-,"

"How many more are there?" Bunny cut him off with a growl. Jack quit rambling and tightened his hold on his staff, gaze directed at the ground.

"Elliot's the only one I raised. Twenty years ago, I found three more trying to find shelter in a pretty bad storm. They followed me here and Elliot convinced them to stay. They, and you, are the only pooka I have ever met or heard of in my life."

"I can't believe you. Why would you keep something like this from me?" Bunny set his tray on a nearby boulder and glared at the winter spirit. Was this all just some prank he'd been playing? Or was it because they'd left him alone for three hundred years and he wanted a little payback? "How could you not tell me about them?"

Jack averted his gaze, guilt evident in his expression. "Before I became a guardian, you weren't exactly the most approachable guy in the world. After that, well, everyone was busy trying to get their lives and homes back in order. I offered to introduce them to you, but you're like a living legend to them. They thought you would be too busy for them. That and Elliot keeps telling them you're evil." Jack looked in the direction the dinner was and gestured hopefully with his staff. "I arranged this without consulting them because I figured you'd like to know. You'd find out about them sooner or later, anyway."

"We're not done talking about this." Bunny curled his paws into fists at his sides, then thought better of it and let them fall limp.

Jack nodded. "I know. But for now, would you like to meet them?"

Yyyyy

The pooka who Bunny had met on the trail was lugging logs over to a large, flat, stump to act as benches. Elliot was helping arrange them while a dark brown, thin pooka set the table, glasses hanging slightly askew on his face. Ten feet away, seated under a large pine tree, was a small, black pooka covered in white spots slightly reminiscent of snow. North and Sandy were busy putting plates of food on the stump while eyeing him, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Alright, gang. I'd like you to meet Bunny, the Easter Kangaroo." Jack announced him with a grin and the two largest pooka, the silver one and the brown one, stopped what they were doing and came over.

"Hi. I'm Fey. Blake's the one napping over there and you already met Walter." The brown pooka stuck out her hand to shake and Bunny got the sense she was used to being in control. She seemed pleased to meet him, but the glances she kept shooting Jack and the other guardians let him know this surprise dinner with the beings chosen by the moon himself was putting her out of her comfort zone.

"Nice to meet you." He gripped her paw and his heart thudded with the sudden realization that this was the first time in centuries that he had touched another of his kind. He wasn't counting when Elliot jumped him.

"Nice t' meet'cha!" Walter lunged forward as soon as their hands were separated and grasped Bunny's in both of his. He couldn't have been much older than Elliot, but was already nearly as tall as Bunny. "You gotta show me how to open those tunnels a' yours. But is'a flower necessary? Or just something you like t' do?"

"A little of both, actually. It pops up on it's own, but it's an aster flower for a reason." Bunny smiled, a warm feeling beginning to soothe the stress and fear that had been creeping up his back. This kit _liked_ him, but it was more than that. He was interacting casually with a child. A child who could, and was allowed to, see him. A child that was a member of his species.

He had also figured out the kit's strange accent; he wasn't enunciating. His words blended together and left off in strange places that made it hard to follow what he was saying.

"What reason is-,"

"For the love of God, Walter, I thought you were practicing. Either speak right or help us with the food." Fey took the tray from Bunny and placed it in an open spot on the stump.

Walter chuckled in embarrassment. "Sorry. So what's the reason for the aster flower?"

Bunny grinned as Walter led him over to the 'table'. "It's my namesake. E. Aster Bunnymund."

Walter smiled and arched an eyebrow in amused confusion. "Bunnymund? I always thought the 'Bunny' in Easter Bunny came from, well, pooka looking like bunnies."

"Sticks."

Bunny perked up his ears at the new voice and looked around. "What was that?"

"What about the sticks, Blake?" Fey placed the last dish, a loaf of what appeared to be flame-baked bread, in the center of the table.

"We forgot to get any. Weren't we going to roast marshmallows?" The speckled pooka hadn't moved, hadn't even opened his eyes. He was just sitting cross-legged under the tree, ears tucked neatly behind his head. Bunny felt his eyes narrow slightly. Something was off with that one.

"Do we have any volunteers to grab some sticks? There are some maple trees not too far up the mountain." Jack pointed back in the direction his cave was located.

"I know the ones you're talking about. I'll go." Elliot stood up from his place between Jack and North but before he could walk off, Bunny found himself standing up as well.

"I'll go, too."

Elliot turned in surprise, and then narrowed his expression into a deep glare. "You-,"

"Elliot." Jack shot the young buck a look. "Take Bunny with you."

The expression of defiance and slight betrayal shone clearly on Elliot's face but he offered no words of argument. Sullenly, he turned and lowered himself to all four paws. "Keep up, old man. Or don't. I'm not waiting for you."

Yyyyy

"I know you don't like me." Bunny snapped off a branch and held it up to examine it.

"Snow turns to water when it gets warm." Elliot replied nonchalantly from his spot under the next tree over.

Bunny lowered the branch. "What?"

"I thought we were stating the obvious."

"… I want to get to know you. I was hoping we could start over on the right foot."

"And I was hoping you would decide not to show up tonight-,"

"Alright, stop it. You sound like a spoiled kid." Bunny snapped off another branch. The kit already had a small bundle clenched in his paw.

"And you sound like a jerk. Why can't you just leave me alone?" Elliot hopped over to another limb and broke off a twig without examining it first.

"Because I want to make it up to you. I want-,"

"You want to know me because I'm an anomaly. I'm a child who doesn't instantly love the Easter Bunny." He scoffed and counted the sticks in his paws. "I'm someone who can see you, who _knows_ you exist. Yet my light isn't anywhere on that globe of yours." With that, he hopped back towards the trail, light glinting dangerously off his glasses.

"Hey, wait. Elliot." Bunny hurried after him. He caught up to the moody pooka and passed him slightly. "Listen-,"

Elliot picked up his speed a bit, passing Bunny.

Bunny sped up and passed him again. "Just slow down so we can talk, alright? Besides-,"

"Let me guess. 'You don't want to race a bunny'?" Elliot looked at him with clear challenge in his eyes. It wasn't the playful challenge that he and Jack sometimes occupied their time with, though. This was a dare. "You don't want to race a bunny raised by Jack Frost!" With that, he took a sharp left turn and leapt off the trail, off the side of the mountain.

Bunny froze in shock, eyes and mouth agape, heart pounding. The only thought his mind was able to consciously process was, ' _How the hell am I going to tell Jack I just killed his kit?'_

Yyyyy

Elliot! What are you thinking? What's going to happen next? Let me know how I did! How did you like Fey, Blake, and Walter? Review! :3


	7. Chapter 7

Bunny ran through the woods as fast as he could. The snow wasn't deep, but he was still slipping every time he tried to turn too sharp. Where had he landed? Should he be looking on his own? Or go get the others to help?

"Elliot!"

He looked up the mountain. It wasn't too tall, for a mountain, and they hadn't been all the way up it, but that was still a significant fall. Judging by where they had been, Elliot should have landed somewhere around where Bunny was currently.

 _"Elliot!_ "

"What are you yelling about, old man?"

Bunny whirled around to see the kit, perfectly fine, leaning against a pine. "How… how did-,"

"Are we going to get back to dinner? Or just hope for leftovers?" He pushed off the tree and walked away, knowing where he was going even though they were far from the trail.

"How did you do that?" Bunny hurried after him, heart still thudding in his ears.

"I jumped, I landed. Keep up or I'll leave you here." Without another word, Elliot took off, leaving Bunny to follow.

Yyyyy

By the time Bunny reached the clearing, Elliot had already claimed his seat between Jack and North and was happily welcoming Tooth. Blake had moved to the 'table' as well and was sitting by Fey. His eyes had opened, but Bunny noticed they were so dark the almost blended right into his fur. A fire burned silently in a pit about fifteen feet away.

"Hey, what took you so long, Bunny?" Jack asked as he passed the pooka a plate.

"Did you forget what you left for?" Blake's eyebrow was raised and he had a bit of a smirk until Fey nudged him slightly.

"Don't be rude."

Bunny looked down at his paws, only then realizing he had dropped his sticks at some point. "No. On that note, though, do you all jump off mountains? Or just Elliot?"

"Jump off mountains? What are you talking about, Bunny?" Tooth shooed Baby Tooth away from Jack.

"Oh, not much. Elliot just about gave me a heart attack, is all. Jumped off the trail into open space. And what the hell was that about, anyway?" Bunny's ears were cocked in annoyance as he turned his glare on the kit.

The kit's eyes were wide behind his glasses and he had dropped his ears behind his head. The look he sent Bunny clearly read, 'please, shut up.'

"Elliot, you didn't." Jack set down the plate of ham North had begun passing around the table and leveled a stern look at his son.

"Didn't what?" Bunny accepted Tooth's dish. "Is this something he does a lot?"

"Jack," North chimed in with a concerned expression. "You didn't show them how to ride the wind like you do, did you?"

"What? Don't be crazy. They're too heavy. And, besides, I'm only able to because I'm a spirit. My staff controls my magic. That's not something you can just _teach_."

"Though from what I hear, you did have a willing student." Fey smirked, and then hid it behind a paw.

Jack shook his head and explained. "Elliot grew up knowing I could fly. He thought he could, too, if he tried hard enough. A couple decades ago, he tried to follow me off a cliff and ended up falling all the way down."

"Runt hasn't seen straight since." Walter broke in with an elbow jab at the mentioned pooka.

"Yeah, that's why he wears glasses, but that was also when I tried forbidding him from trying to fly again. Which he took apparently took as a challenge." The winter spirit sounded rather exasperated as they all turned to look at the one in question.

Elliot just grinned sheepishly and tugged reached under the straps of his backpack. Silently, he withdrew two cords and pulled them, causing two makeshift glider wings to unfold behind him. "Almost got them this time. I can glide, just not flap."

Yyyyy

Dinner was pleasant and relatively uneventful after that. Dessert brought out Baby Tooth's, well, sweet tooth, much to her mother's chagrin. Fey passed around a berry dish she had made that was quickly devoured by all the males at the table. Even Tooth tried some and agreed it was amazing.

"I have to ask, where did you get the ingredients?" She asked, placing her spoon on her plate. "It _is_ the middle of winter, after all."

"Some guy in a black cloak sold them to me this morning." Fey stated matter-of-factly, licking the last of the residue off of her spoon.

Everyone but Walter and Jack froze at that, while Baby Tooth's eyes grew wide and she flew backwards away from Jack's plate slightly. "Wait," North eyed his plate in fear. "What man?"

Fey held out for another beat before her face cracked into a smile and she chuckled. "I'm kidding. I designed and built a greenhouse to keep us fed when Jack decides he's had enough of _color_ and _heat_." She smirked at the spirit, who rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"Winter comes on it's own. We've been over this."

"If're all done, I'll take the dishes. Fire's just right for mash-," Walter stopped and concentrated, his and Elliot's dishes already in his paws. "Marm… those fluffy cloud candies y'like to eat. Never be able to pronounce them." He grumbled the last part, gathered the rest of the dishes, and walked off into a nearby cave with them.

"Alright, I've got to ask. What's with that one?" Bunny nodded his head in the direction Walter had just gone. He and the others stood and headed over to the fire pit that had been keeping those who weren't used to a snowy environment warm.

"He was taken in by a mama bunny as a kit. A wild mama bunny. He lived with the clan for a long time as it grew, up until wolves and hunters destroyed their numbers. After that, be basically wandered the continent by himself. Blake and I met him just a week or two before we met Jack and Elliot. He's still trying to grasp English." Fey grabbed two of the sticks Elliot had brought back and began stripping them of bark. The other's copied her, remaining silent as Walter returned. She stuck the ends of her sticks into the fire until they were black and then handed one to Blake.

Suddenly though, as if something had occurred to her, she stood up. "The S'mores supplies are in the cave. I'll go get them."

Elliot perked up at that. "I'll help-,"

"No. Easter Bunny's going to help. You stay here. Make sure Walter doesn't catch fire." She looked Bunny in the eye and jerked her head toward the cave. Silently, he followed her.

"What's up?" He asked once they were out of earshot.

"Elliot." Was her reply.

Inside the cave was well furnished, in a pooka sense. Nests were laid out and personal territory was clearly marked. They also seemed to have acquired dishes and silverware, if dinner was anything to go by. Fey gathered a serving plate of graham crackers and chocolate, along with a bowl of marshmallows.

"The kid's as stubborn as they come, but he's smart." She didn't look at him once, and he didn't try to get in her way.

"Smart. Yeah. Usually the first word to come to mind when someone jumps eighty feet into open space." Bunny massaged his bicep where he had hit it slipping in the snow.

"He may not act it, but he is. Just… give him time. He'll come around." She gave him an encouraging smile and handed him the food. "Don't worry. The Guardian of Fun raised him. Revenge and grudges aren't things he knows." Bunny sighed and smiled. Before he could thank her, though, she walked out of the cave in the direction of the fire. "Stubbornness, though, is another story."

Yyyyy

I think this is the most pooka centric chapter I have planned so far. In the coming chapters, we will be seeing more of the guardians and how they are handling these new developments. Not to mention some major plot twists! I really hope you all will continue to enjoy this story and all the ups and downs it throws at you.

Please don't forget to review! :3


	8. Chapter 8

Elliot had _not_ done a good job. The sight of singed fur on Walter's paws evidenced this, along with the fact that Blake was now roasting both of their marshmallows.

"I don't know I like this, Jack. _Two_ desserts?" Tooth examined the sticky treat he was sharing with Baby Tooth in mild horror. Baby Tooth just tweeted happily, quickly covering her front feathers in goo.

Jack held out his finger for the tiny fairy to perch on. "I kinda sprung this dinner on everyone, so to make it up to the kids I let them decide how tonight was going to go."

"Though, I hope they're still open to slight alterations" North raised an eyebrow at Fey, asking permission.

"Of course." She sat and poked a marshmallow with her stick.

"Good. Is still Christmas, after all." He got up and retrieved a red sack, which he brought back to the fire. "You must forgive me, I did not bring gifts for the three of you."

"Hey, no worries." Walter shrugged, rolling snowballs to cool his singed fur.

"I promise you, though, you three will get gifts from Santa this year as well." North proclaimed, withdrawing several wrapped boxed and offering them to the guardians and Elliot. "Go ahead. Open them."

Elliot ripped open into his box excitedly, and then gasped. "No way! I thought I lost him!" He held his Yeti aloft for them all to see. Digging deeper into the box, he withdrew a matching elf toy, complete with a bell sewn onto the hat. He picked it up and the bell jingled. Surprised, Elliot shook it, jingling it again. Laughing, he continued shaking the elf toy, until Fey pulled her treat off the fire with an eye roll.

"I am going to get so sick of that sound."

"Patience is a virtue." Blake pulled his and Walters' marshmallows off the fire, then handed them both over to the silver pooka.

"You're going to be able to put up with that incessant ringing?" She asked, tilting her head. Jack grinned at the banter and tore into his present.

"I have the patience to put up with it until we're alone." He smirked.

"C'n I have 'nother?" Walter asked, mouth full with both S'mores. Blake poked another on the end of one of the sticks and held it over the fire.

"North, oh my. This is beautiful." Tooth breathed, holding a delicate silver necklace. A key topped with a carved molar hung from it. "What's it go to?"

North didn't answer until Bunny and Sandy had opened their boxes and pulled out similar necklaces, topped with a boomerang and a golden cloud. "Those are keys to your new rooms at Santoff Clausen. Merry Christmas!"

"We have rooms at your place?" Bunny fiddled with the boomerang on the end of his key, looking slightly confused.

"After battle with Pitch, I figured it would come in handy for you all to have a secondary place to stay. But you don't have to stay with me only in emergency. North Pole is always welcome to you!"

"Wow, North. I don't know what to say. Thank you." Tooth smiled and slipped her chain around her neck.

"Yeah. Thanks, mate." Bunny smiled. Sandy grinned and looped his around his neck as well. "What did you get, Jack?"

The winter spirit looked up in surprise to see everyone staring at his expectantly. "Um, marbles. I think." He withdrew a small drawstring sack and reached inside it, pulling out a tiny orb. North chuckled.

"Miniatures of my snow globes. They will take you anywhere in the world you wish to go. If you are ever in trouble, don't hesitate to use them."

"Alright. Thanks." Jack nodded and slipped them into his hoodie pocket. After the battle with the Nightmare King, North had become a bit more protective over them. They had all noticed, but it made the Cossack feel better knowing they were safe, so none of them were complaining.

Walter yawned hugely then, teeth appearing to glow white while covered in marshmallow goo. "I'm bushed. Y'all ready t' wrap this up?"

"I'll take the dishes. Blake, you ready?" Fey stood and placed a paw on the small pooka's shoulder.

"My bad habit is primed and ready for your entertainment." He stood up and walked back over to the tree he had been under when the guardians had arrived. "Are you all going to stay?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at North. "It's time for the bedtime story."

"We don't have anywhere we need to be right now, but the whole 'bad habit' thing makes me a little concerned. It's not going to be a dirty story or anything, right?" Tooth helped Fey and Bunny gather the dishes as Jack tried to clean up Baby Tooth, with disastrous results. By the end of it, he had only managed to spread it around, and one of her wings was glued to her side.

"No, don't worry. Blake would never tell us anything like that." The winter spirit said, blushing sheepishly as Tooth exasperatedly took over the cleaning of her daughter.

"He's got this thing about humans. Can't get enough of their stories and legends. He sneaks into town and listens under windows and outside campsites to hear new ones." Fey lifted the last dish onto her stack and walked off to the cave while everyone else took up spots around Blake.

"Gets chased by dogs every now and then, but no one tells better bedtime stories." Elliot settled down and rested his head on his front paws.

As soon as Fey returned, Blake began. "Considering what day today is, I figured a Christmas story would be fitting."

"I quite agree." North voiced his approval in glee. It had been centuries since he had last heard a story about his holiday.

"This is a story I've been hearing around town a lot, and I quite enjoyed it. Let's see. This takes us all the way back to last night, the night before Christmas." Blake paused and cleared his throat, looking expectantly at Jack.

The winter spirit was seated cross-legged, chin in his hands, apparently enjoying the start of the story. "Oh, right! Sorry." He pointed his hands at the center of the circle they had formed and focused. "The only ones who have seen this are the kids and Jamie." Snow began falling, just a little ways off the ground, gently dusting over a small, two-story house.

"This isn't just any Christmas, however. A young boy lives in this house, and for the first time in his life," Jack flicked his hands and the house burst into white flakes, only to reform as a child about Jamie's age, dressed in pajamas and standing in what appeared to be his bedroom. "For the first time in his life, he doesn't believe that Santa exists. The kids at school have begun to question how a man is able to live in one of the harshest landscapes on earth-,"

"Indoor heating." North interrupted, sounding mildly insulted.

"And make presents for each and every child in the world-,"

"Yeti's are very hard workers."

"And why he used _reindeer_ to deliver them-,"

"Planes are monitored by air traffic controllers."

Blake stopped and stared, obviously very amused. All the while, Jack had been using his snow images to follow the story. The image hovering above the ground currently was North in an airplane.

"It's good to know that you know you exist, but those are the points older kids use when they stop believing. That said, I think you're going to like this story." Blake waited until North motioned for him to continue. "This boy didn't want to stop believing, but everywhere he looked for proof just reinforced what everyone had been telling him; Santa Claus was a myth."

The snow-boy sat down on his bed, knees bent and arms resting on them.

"Suddenly, though, he heard something downstairs; heavy footsteps."

North's eyes widened and he, Elliot, and Walter leaned forward as the image hurriedly tiptoed across the room and eased his door open. At the top of the staircase, he paused.

"He saw a figure, a huge figure, walking out of the kitchen. He held his breath, sure he was about to see Santa."

"Kid didn't believe in Santa, then saw Santa. No offense, but that just seems a little… predictable." Bunny scratched his ear, and then grunted as a snowball hit him in the face.

"Shh." Elliot glared.

"Good thing that wasn't Santa, then." Blake smiled. "Because, as he watched, his father walked into the room, carrying his little sister on his shoulders."

The snow-boy let his head drop in obvious disappointment.

The story continued on, and gradually, interruptions fettered out. Everyone wanted to know what was going to happen next. North had never heard of a train that took disbelieving children on an adventure to his workshop, while the children the snow-boy met along the way kept everyone else entertained.

"Reindeer! An entire herd that stretched over the tracks farther than the train light could reach." Blake waved his paws as Jack changed the image. "They hadn't moved when the train had been going full sped at them, so how could they get past? The conductor looked at his pocket watch again, complaining about how they were running late."

"Is very easy to move reindeer out of the way." North leaned in to get a better look at the scene.

"Not for people who don't know them like you do." Blake countered.

A little while later, the train thundered down the tracks to another roadblock; a frozen lake. They all watched in silent horror as the giant vehicle whipped back and forth across the ice, trying to make it to the other side before the cracks caught up with them.

"And then they got off the ice and made it to Santa's workshop. The end." Blake sat back and fell silent.

"Hey, wait, what? What kind of an ending is that?" Bunny narrowed his eyes as the black pooka grinned.

"You said an ending where he meets Santa was predictable. Is this better?"

"Blake, just finish the story. What happens next?" Fey pressed.

"The train stopped in a giant crowd of elves and all the kids got off. If they wanted to meet Santa, they had to form two rows and follow the conductor. All the kids but one had gotten off."

After that, a grand tour of North's town sparked several interruptions.

"North, why don't you have a bakery shaped like a gingerbread house?"

"I have my kitchen."

"I think your elves need an upgrade."

"Which is why I hire Yeti."

"I want hot cocoa now."

"Walter, if I let you guys have any more sweets, I think Tooth will confiscate anything with sugar for the foreseeable future." Jack laughed, still changing the images to fit Blake's story.

The ending part about the single, silver bell was just about over when Blake interrupted himself with a massive yawn. Jack, chuckling softly, changed the image from the boy unwrapping a small box his parents couldn't identify, to a duplicate of Blake's yawning face.

"Oh, very funny." The pooka rolled his eyes and waited until Jack had changed the scene back before continuing. "He held the bell up to his ear and shook it. Just like before, it jingled the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, even though he couldn't feel anything in it. No little ball to bounce around inside. It wasn't until the rest of his family shook it to their ears and only his sister could hear it that he realized how it was possible; they believed. They believed in magic, and the spirit of Christmas, and the fact that this was truly the most wonderful, and wonder-filled, time of the year. And as he grew up, he made sure the sound of that bell never fell silent for him, even as it eventually did for his sister." Blake finished and Jack ended with a small sleigh bell hovering just a little ways off the ground.

"Wonderful story!" North smiled broadly as Sandy held up two thumbs.

"That was so exciting." Tooth grinned, gesturing for North to quiet down. Baby Tooth had fallen asleep around the time the children had been discovered in the present bag.

"Are there really stories like that about Christmas?" Bunny stood and stretched out his sore legs. He hadn't expected all that much, but he guessed a lot had changed about humans and their stories since he and the other guardians had stopped paying such close attention. "I wouldn't mind hearing one about Easter."

"Oh, uh." Blake blinked uncertainly. "I don't actually know many."

"More people like Christmas. Good night, everyone. It was nice to meet you all." Elliot made a point of only looking at Sandy, North, and Tooth as he said the last bit. He then turned and hopped off to the cave.

"Elliot!" Jack called after him. "I'm sorry, Bunny. He'll get used to eventually." As he said that, though, Bunny noticed him clutch his staff a little tighter and slip his free hand into his hoodie pocket; a nervous habit they had noticed about him. He wasn't as sure about Elliot as he claimed.

"No worries, mate. I'll see you later, all right? Goodnight and tanks for inviting me."

"Me, too. I had fun." Tooth lifted into the air as smoothly as possible to avoid waking Baby Tooth.

Sandy created and hopped aboard a cloud of dream sand, while the three remaining pooka looked on in awe.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait! Before I forget!" North held out his hands and stopped everyone, excitement dancing in his eyes. "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

He took a bow and they all departed, feeling all the merrier. All but Bunny. As soon as he was out of earshot, he turned and looked up at the sky.

"How many? How many more are out there? Do any of them think they are the only ones of their kind? How-," He stopped and glanced back towards where they had eaten. "How the bloody hell did they get here?" With that, and no response from the Man in the Moon, he opened a tunnel and dove down it.

It wasn't until he was a little ways down that he realized it was unusually bright. A moonbeam had followed him down his hole and was now stretched out all the way to his warren. Was his Manny's answer? Was there something at his home? Another pooka, maybe? Heart thudding, he sped up as fast as he could go. What could it be?

"Hello?" He cried upon reaching the entrance to his warren. Everything was just as he had left it. Looking around frantically, he ventured further in, still following the single line of light. It bent unnaturally in ways light wasn't supposed to, and disappeared one of his huge boulders. "Is anyone there?" Bunny almost hesitated, suddenly reminded of his first meeting with Elliot. His ear still hurt from that.

Swallowing, he turned the corner and felt his mouth drop open. His thudding heart almost stopped without further warning and he had to hold onto the boulder for support.

"This… this isn't possible. How-, no. There's no way. This can't be." The disappeared leaving Bunny alone in the dark with way more questions than answers. "How did this happen?"

Yyyyy

Oh, dear. I guess I have a bit of a thing for cliffhangers with this story. I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter! Please review and let me know what you thought! Also, what did Manny show Bunny? :3


	9. Chapter 9

North was hunched over a worktable, sleeves rolled up and leaning on his elbows, trying to walk a clumsy yeti through how to use a power drill. The yeti just looked more and more confused, so by the time he spotted his intruder, he was more than ready to let him go back to the non-power-related methods of preparing toys. Like painting. Or dusting.

"Elliot! What are you doing here?" He called. The kit was up on the balcony, gazing down at the (somewhat) controlled insanity that was the workshop.

"I came with Jack. He said he wanted to try out his bed and that I could wander around so long as I didn't touch anything or get underfoot."

"Not _touch_ anything?" North let out a booming laugh and waved his arms wide with pride. "This is Santa's workshop! Come. Come with me. I'll show you what something you'll enjoy!"

Elliot's ears were perked straight up on his head. "Really?!" without another word, he hopped over the railing and landed in front of North. "Lets go!"

North was suddenly struck by two thoughts. The first was the bizarre realization that there was a pooka in his workshop that wasn't Bunny. The second sat in his mind a little deeper. This was the first time he was actually able to give someone a tour of his pride and joy. Elliot couldn't stop looking around at everything, excitement almost tangible.

"This place is _so_ cool! Is that a spaceship? And an astronaut!"

"Oh, this is nothing." North brushed off the comment with a wave of his hand. That didn't stop him from beaming, though. "Is just finishing room. Now _this_ is what I wanted to show you!" He pushed open two huge (even for Santoff Clausen's standards) oak doors. Inside was a room that just _had_ to have been enchanted somehow. It was so big that there was no way for it to have fit in the building otherwise. Giant shelves, each reaching up to the ridiculously high ceiling reached, row after row, as far back as he could see.

"Whoa." North let him take it in for a moment, enjoying the pure joy he could see clearly in the pooka's wide eyes and slack jaw.

"This is where I keep the spare toys. Not bad, eh?"

"This place is incredible!" Elliot breathed. The shelves were so over-stocked that there were piles in corners and scattered all over the floor. This could have had something to do with the elves, though.

"Most of this is toys with minor things wrong, paint spilled on them, an arm didn't get attached correctly, things like that. There are a lot, though, that are in here because they are extra. This room, you can play in. Pick some things you think your friends will like. I'll check on you in a little while." North smiled and watched. Most children would have torn off towards the nearest shelf and begun yanking off items. Elliot walked reverently down the closest isle, stopping every now and then to examine something.

North had work to get back to and yetis that still needed coaching, but before he left he saw pause and carefully pet a large toy horse, as if it were alive. He made a mental note to take him out to the barn before the two left.

Yyyyy

"Tooth Fairy! Hello?" Tooth stopped her sorting and direction-giving to peer out of her 'control tower' to the floor below. A familiar brown pooka was looking around. A flock of baby teeth appeared to be leading her towards their mother, but other, busier fairies kept distracting her.

"Fey?" Tooth hopped over the rail and flew down to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Fey jumped when Tooth landed suddenly in front of her. "Um, Jack and Elliot are on their way to Santa-, I mean, North's place. I asked them to drop me off here." She looked slightly uncomfortable. "I-if you're not too busy. I can leave if you are."

"No, no. Don't worry about it. I was actually just about to take a lunch break." Tooth smiled and led the taller female over to a small bench. "What did you want to see me about?"

"Well, um… I don't know if there's a time limit on when you can collect them, but I brought mine and Blake's baby teeth with me." She reached held up her arm and revealed two small drawstring bags dangling from her wrist. "When we were young, Blake and I were all each other had. He's older than me, but I was always taller. We… kind of took turns being the protector. The older sibling, I guess. He loved human's legends and stories even back then, and one of the first he ever told me was about a magical woman who would come by in the night to collect teeth in exchange for coins."

Tooth blinked in surprise while Fey removed the bags. "I never got an alert that you lost your teeth. If I had, well, I guess your existence wouldn't have come as such a shock to us. I can take them now, though." She held out her hand and Fey placed the bags in them.

"Jack has most of Elliot's back at the cave, though I hear he's lost at least two in snow related 'freak accidents' over the years." She used her paws to do air quotes. "But if you want Walter's, you're out of luck. He was raised with a herd of wild rabbits, so when his teeth fell out, they stayed where they landed."

"I kind of suspected that." Tooth cringed. Walter was a nice enough boy, but there had been no reason for him to hang onto his teeth.

"I'll have to remember to ask Jack for Elliot's. This isn't how I usually go about collecting teeth."

"Heheh." The fairy turned her attention from the abnormal teeth to the being that grew them. Baby Tooth and some of her sisters were flying around them, examining the newcomer. Fey held out a paw and allowed Baby Tooth to perch on it.

"She likes you." Tooth smiled as she watched the two examine each other.

"I always thought you-," Fey seemed to realize she was talking out loud and quickly shut her mouth with a snap.

Tooth winced at the noise. "You thought I what?"

Fey looked mildly embarrassed. "I… Blake and I named ourselves. He started telling bedtime stories to help me sleep. I had bad nightmares as a kid, and he knew promising me that he would keep the monsters away wouldn't do any good. I was, and still am, the fighter of the two of us. He'd tell me about you guys and what you each did. I thought he was inventing stories just so I'd feel safe. I was always a bit of a fan of magic and fairies, so you were my favorite to hear about. You were the one I chose my name after."

"In that case," Tooth reached out and turned Fey's chin so that they were looking at each other. "I'm honored."

Yyyyy

Sandy twisted and twirled, weaving webs and strings, ropes and yarns and tales, all over Burgess. Pirates and treasure, deep space explorations, graceful dancers and soaring dragons blanketed the town. His cloud floated over the roofs, silently lulling even the most stubborn kids to their beds.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of someone watching him. A dark shape sat completely still on a rooftop a little ways away. Raising an eyebrow, he guided his cloud over, and then gestured to the figure to get on.

Blake blinked in surprise at the invitation, but stepped carefully on board anyway. "I didn't mean to bother you. I just happened to be passing by and had to watch the show. It's incredible how you're able to do that."

Sandy grinned and bowed, forming and tipping a hat. The kit leaned over the edge to look at the ground below.

"Do you mind if I close my eyes for a moment?" He asked, settling down on his belly. Sandy could see that his eyes were already starting to close. "I usually go to bed before this, but everyone's out."

Sandy gently flicked his wrist and fashioned a blanket for the kit. Nodding his head in encouragement, he let Blake know it was fine by him. Within seconds, he was breathing deeply as the Sandman sprinkled dream sand over his still form.

Yyyyy

"Hello?" Walter called, voice echoing through the tunnels. He had been practicing and had _finally_ managed to open one of his own. Growing up how he had, tracking was a strong suit of his, so he knew Bunny's warren was in the direction he was heading, he just couldn't tell how far it was going to be.

"Walter?!" Bunny's shocked call let him know just how close he actually was.

Bouncing in excitement, he hurried forward. "I foun' it! I taught myself how to make tunnels-, whoa. Are you a'right?" Walter stopped talking as soon as he got a good look at Bunny. The older Pooka looked tired, disheveled, and like he hadn't groomed his fur in a little while.

"I need you to go get the others, alright? I need help. Manny, he showed me something I'm not entirely sure about, but I can't leave the warren. _Please_. Go get North and the others."

Confused, Walter replied the only way he could think of. "Y-yessir." Then he turned and ran.

Behind him, all he could hear was Bunny frustrated shouts, ordering someone to stay down, to not move.

Yyyyy

Little chapter I have wanted to do for a while. One on one with the pooka kits and the guardians. I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought! Who's your favorite character so far? I would love to know! Review! :3


	10. Chapter 10

Sandy gently lowered his cloud until he was close enough to Blake's nest to move him off without waking him up. Eons of watching creatures live and evolve had taught him a thing or two about them. This kit, he knew from experience, was one he shouldn't let himself get attached to.

Blake's nose twitched when a twig brushed against it as he stretched and readjusted himself. His black fur would have blended in perfectly with the dark interior if the cave had it not been for Sandy's, well, sand. As it was, the soft glow reflected off of his white spots in a way that made them shine like stars; a cruel mockery of what Sandy suspected was to come. He knew the others probably hadn't noticed anything. They were younger. They hadn't seen as much as him. Didn't know as much.

Blake sighed contentedly and Sandy smiled slightly, preparing to leave. He was just about to lay one last dose of dream sand over the sleeping pooka when Walter bolted into the cave.

"Than', thank goodness you're 'ere." He breathed.

Sandy narrowed his eyes in an expression of concern. Walter had seemed rowdy and high-strung, but the fact that he looked terrified was certainly a cause for alarm. Tilting his head, he raised his hands in a classic, 'what's wrong' gesture.

"Easter Bunny. I wen' ta see 'im and he sent me ta get help. He said he needed you guys. Man, 'e looked bad, too. Like he hadn't slept in a while."

"Walter? What are you doing?" Blake raised his head, blinking.

"Blake, get up. We gotta go. Do you know where Jack put his teleport marbles?" The silver pooka asked, already starting to search.

Blake sat up, yawning widely. "No, why? He should be back by tomorrow."

Sandy decided it was as good a time as any to break in, especially since Walter was proceeding to make a bigger mess than necessary. He held out his hands, letting a few tendrils of his dream sand leak out of the cave. The soft glow illuminated the rocks and dirt on the way, halting further conversation. Nodding pointedly towards his sand, Sandy conjured a few shapes to make sure his message got through. A sleigh and a small, dream sand-fairy hovered briefly before darting off and being swallowed up by the rest of the sand.

"You're going to let them know?" Sandy nodded at Blake. "Okay, good. Lets go."

Yyyyy

North knew he was being watched. The figure in the corner didn't exactly blend in to begin with, and he hadn't even needed the extra awareness that being a Cossack-turned-guardian had instilled in him. With everyone busily running around their stations, delivering new supplies and removing the piles of finished toys, the one still figure was on everyone's radar.

Jack stood as far out of the way as he could get. The workshop was crazy and, at first glance, appeared to be in complete disarray. As he watched, though, he was able to see steady progress was being made. Everyone knew what to do, how to do it, and when to move out of someone else's way. There was surprisingly little bumping into each other, and almost no broken toys as a result.  
North was busy overseeing everything; giving direction when needed, offering a hand when boxes became too numerous for just two hands, well, paws, and even taking over the occasional job to relieve his workers. Jack was impressed to say the least.

"I always heard that Santa spent all year 'making his list and checking it twice'." Jack mocked lightly when North found a spare moment to talk to him.

"List makes itself! If _I_ spent all year checking every kid in the world twice, Christmas would have to come once a decade." North laughed.

Jack leaned on his staff and watched the bustling room. Christmas was still almost a year away, but here at the North Pole, all the creatures were stirring. "This place is amazing. I can't believe I'm actually here. I can't imagine how Elliot must feel."

"Elliot is having time of his life." North leaned over and whispered conspiratorially in Jack's ear. "I let him into the spare toy room."

"The spare toy room? You have a room for spare toys?" Jack's eyes lit up and North once again realized how young Jack was eternally stuck. "Can I see?"

"Of course. Is over here. I told Elliot he could take whatever he wanted for his friends." North held out his hand and led Jack down to the room. Just as he was about to open the door, a soft golden cloud ran into his hand.

"Dream sand?" Jack lifted his staff to poke it with the crook. He'd never seen it so far from its master.

The sand began to shift. First Bunny, than an exclamation mark, and then an arrow, pointing hurriedly in the direction it had come.

"Something's wrong. Bunny's in trouble. Come on, Jack. I'll meet you at the sleigh."

Yyyyy

Fey smiled as another group of fairies landed at her table. Tooth had had to go back to work, but decided to let the pooka stay. Fey, with permission, had found her way to the kitchen and was now having fun making food for the fairies who were on breaks. If their reactions were anything to go by, she wasn't too bad of a chef, considering all the cooking she'd ever done had been over a fire.

"Fey!" Tooth called her away from where she was trying to slice a watermelon into small enough cubes for the baby teeth. Setting what she had in a bowl on the table she had set up, she hopped up to Tooth's command tower.

"What is it?" The fairy flew up to her, tail quivering in excitement. In her hands, she held a small molar, still covered in blood. The baby tooth who had brought it in hovered nearby, proudly trying to show it off.

"This is his last baby tooth! From now on, this boy's box is going to remain locked." She held it up and smiled wistfully. "He's on his own now. We'll keep an eye on him, but it's up to him to live his life now. We'll only intervene when he's forgotten."

"Forgotten what?" Fey tilted her head, eyes narrowed.

"Who he was, who he is. What it was like when anything was possible. Growing up means that you have to see reality everywhere. That means that you believe in the impossible less and less. The more you believe in only the possible, the less you see the point in trying for what you know you can't achieve."

"So whenever anyone's having a hard time, you unlock their box?" Fey smiled at the gentle smile adorning the fairy's face as she placed the tooth into a box. She closed the lid and turned back to her guest.

"The teeth were there for every moment of childhood. Every moment a dining room chair became a dragon, or a tree fort became a castle with a moat. All the times Mom and Dad were superheroes, or their imaginary friends chased away the monsters in their closets." Tooth gestured with her hands to the giant room around them. "All the good memories, all the bad memories, every single time they believed in something _so_ _much_ that it became real, even if only to them. Did you ever believe in something you knew was impossible?" Tooth fluttered back to her, still a tad excited. She didn't typically get a chance to talk about her work with anyone.

"Well, when I was a little kit, Blake and I would tell each other stories about what our lives would be like when we met others. I was still really young, so sometimes he would invent stories about how we'd meet an entire colony. I always wanted to believe there were more of us out there, but, well, Blake was the only other one I knew until we met Walter."

Tooth was about to reply when a wisp of golden sand passed between them. "Sandy's distress signal. We need to go." Hurriedly, they took off after the cloud.

Yyyyy

"Maybe Pitch got to him?" Tooth muttered worriedly. She didn't want Bunny hearing her.

"He could just be crazy. He lives in a hole in the ground with a bunch of walking eggs and about as many paints as you could think of. It was bound to happen eventually." Jack replied, trying to lighten the mood. The way he was clutching his staff in both hands, though, gave away how worried he was.

"Bunny." North raised his voice, wanting to find out for sure how concerned they should be. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see. I didn't believe it myself when I first saw it." The pooka hardly glanced in their direction, too busy… making nests. For his golems. They didn't seem happy about it, as their angry faces kept following Bunny wherever he hopped, but they weren't trying to move.

"You didn't believe it. What makes you think we're going to, then?" Elliot's eyes were narrowed and his arms were crossed over his chest. He was standing at his full height and his jaw was clenched tightly. Every muscle in his body radiated one single message; he didn't want to be here.

"You'll see, Elliot. And if I'm right, Manny's been keeping something from us for a long time." Bunny hopped over to a golem who was a ways away from the others. "Sandy, I need you to make your sand as bright as it can go. This is the one I need to show you."

The golem sat still, only occasionally shifting position, in a thick bed of leaves. Sandy nodded and held out his hands, forming a sphere roughly the size of a basketball and sent it over to the giant stone guardian. Putting together what Bunny was asking, he made the ball disappear behind the golem. With how bright it was shining, though, they were all able to see a silhouette of what was inside it. And what it was… shocked them all to their very cores.

Beneath the stone was what appeared to be some kind of liquid. It moved and shone as the suspended mass in its center twitched in what appeared to be sleep.

"Is- is that…" Jack couldn't finish.

"Oh, my god." Tooth's hands flew up to her mouth. This wasn't what she had expected.

Elliot's stance had slackened into one of surprise and absolute confusion. His paws hung at his sides, while his eyes were bugged out.

"This… that's not possible." North was the first one to move. He approached the golem slowly, as if moving too quick would break whatever illusion was being shown. "What had Manny been keeping from us?" He breathed, almost to himself.

The golem they were all looking through, they could see now, was just what it looked like; an egg. Inside, floating peacefully in its stone encasement, was what appeared to be a fully formed infant pooka.

Yyyyy

Either I'm being very predictable, or sparklehannah is somehow capable of reading my mind. O.o Jk. Although you're guesses are always very close!

I would love to hear what you all thought! Also, I've been considering having Pitch make a cameo, but I think I'll leave the final decision to you all! Let me know! Review! :3


	11. Chapter 11

As the tiny pooka twitched and kicked its feet, Sandy materialized more glowing balls of sand that he then sent behind each of the other golems. Inside every single one was an opaque shape in varying levels of development. Inside every golem was an infant pooka.

All present were awestruck, none more so than Bunny. He spun slowly, eyebrows pulled together tightly. "I put them in battle. When we were fighting Pitch. I called them and had them fight the nightmares. All of them have…" He broke off. "How could I have not known?"

Yyyyy

The fire danced and flickered, throwing shadows and flashes over the campsite. Elliot sat too close, aimlessly stoking the fire with a stick. Every now and then the light would hit him just right and his glasses would glint, making him look almost dangerous. He felt the heat. He just wasn't paying attention to it.

"Easter's coming up in about three weeks." Fey broke the silence. Walter was seated back by her, safely away from the flames. Blake was the farthest away, under his oak tree. The cold had never really bothered him as much as it did the others, despite his small frame.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Elliot knew what she was getting at. There was still a lot top do to prepare for the holiday, and the golems were going to present a bit of a problem.

"Are we going to help with the egg hiding, or the golem-sitting?" Fey replied.

"I wanna hide th' eggs. Those rock guards kinda creep me out." Walter shuddered. "Do…" He broke off and stepped a little closer to the fire. It was snowing lightly, but the fire kept them warm. Mostly. "Do you think 'e knew?"

"I don't know, Walter. If he was faking-," Fey was cut off by Elliot. He didn't turn away from the fire, and due to the glare from the flames, she couldn't see past his glasses.

"He wasn't. I saw his face. And besides, if he knew they had baby pooka in them, he wouldn't be alone right now. I don't like him, but that doesn't mean I'm blind."

"Regardless. We'll decide tomorrow when Jack gets back." Blake silenced them all. Standing fluidly, he turned and walked off towards their cave, only to pause when Walter voiced what was on all of their minds.

"Do ya think… we came from there?"

"I don't know, Walter. I'm sure we'll find out soon, though. Provided the moon doesn't fall silent on everyone again." Blake didn't want to think about it. About having come from an unfeeling chunk of stone. He wouldn't tell anyone, but while Fey and Elliot had held out hope for just another of their species, he had dared to dream in a slightly more implausible direction; family. And not just the 'love is thicker than blood' sense, either. He'd wanted to meet a doe or buck with his fur patterns. Siblings who had come from the same genetics as he had. He didn't know a lot on the subject, but humans' stories were usually so full of the importance of family. A group of people so diverse that they often fought, but still sat around the same dinner table, talking about… whatever families talked about.

"You've got that look again." Fey's soft voice snapped him back to reality. He hadn't realized she had gotten this close to him. Walter and Elliot were already in the cave, settling into their nests.

"It's nothing." He brushed her off and headed off to the cave. She was the closest thing he had ever had, and he wouldn't trade her for anything, but something still felt off. Something had felt off for quite a while.

Yyyyy

"Your friends are asleep." He didn't jump at the sudden voice.

"I can't sleep. What do you want?" Blake didn't move. He was curled up on the frozen dirt at the mouth of the cave, staring up at the night sky. The sky was so clear he could see a breathtaking amount of stars. The figure stepped closer, just to the other side of the opening. He knew Blake liked his space.

"You know you're going to have to say your good-byes soon, right?"

Blake didn't say a word. The only sign he had heard the other was the slight lowering of his ears.

"This can't go on forever. You know that."

"… I know. Can't you let me stay, just a little longer, though?" For the first time that night, Blake turned away from the sky.

The figure sighed. "It's not up to me. We've been over this."

Blake sighed sadly. "I know." The peace he had felt stargazing was now gone. He just felt tired and worn. Pushing off the ground, he stood and walked past the occupied nests to the back of the cave where his was. Before he curled up, though, he took a moment to look at his friends.

Walter was twisted so that his paws were neatly underneath his body; an ingrained instinct from living in a predator-rich environment for so long. At a moment's notice, he could go from asleep to bolting with little time to adjust position.

Fey was curled up tight, looking about half the size she actually was. Her face looked troubled, and he couldn't decide if she was just cold, or she knew something was wrong.

Elliot had once again forgotten to remove his glasses. They were currently hanging off one ear as he slept. Walking over, Blake silently and carefully removed them, folded them, and set them aside. He smiled softly and patted the kit's head. The young pooka was a fighter that was for sure. He just wished he didn't have to… go.

Knowing that the figure was still watching him, he settled down in his own nest and curled up tight.

"Good night, Blake." The whisper floated over to him softly, but he heard it clearly. He wasn't sure he liked the sound his name made when it came from that silky, gentle voice.

"Good night, Pitch." He sighed and drifted off.

The shadow king stepped outside, only needing to go just a few steps beyond the entrance to the cave and its shadows to get a good look at the moon. "You love working in secret, don't you old friend? This all could have been avoided, you know." He shook his head and walked back to the cave wall, melting through the darkness like it was a door. "I do hate having to clean up after you."

Yyyyy

Happy Easter! I got this up just in time! What did you all think? I would love to know! Review! :3


	12. Chapter 12

Jack twirled his staff and hopped from boulder to boulder. North and Sandy had retuned to North's workshop to try and contact Manny, while Tooth had stayed behind with Jack and Bunny. The winter spirit made a subtle point of keeping is distance, free hand resting in his pocket.

"The kids are concerned. I should have headed back with them."

"They'll be fine, Jack. We need to figure out what to do about this right now." Bunny hardly glanced his way; too busy leading his eggs to the various painting stations. Work still needed to be done, and due to recent events, he had fallen behind a bit.

Casting a glance towards the nearest tunnel, he sighed and got to work helping with the eggs. He didn't like being around Bunny when he was this stressed. Absently, he rubbed his thumb over the raised skin on his shoulder. It wouldn't happen again. But because it had happened before, the fear was stuck there.

Yyyyy

Walter braced his front paws against the lose dirt as he stretched his back paws as far as they could go. His joints and spine popped and cracked as he adjusted position. Once he was done, he stood and headed out of the cave.

The cold fire pit had a light coating of slush, and a thin layer of snow covered everything else. It had cleared up sometime during the night, so it wasn't as thick as he had expected. Shivering slightly in the cold, he got down on all four paws and headed up the trail a bit to Jack and Elliot's cave. The pooka had taken to sleeping with his own kind whenever the winter spirit stayed out too late, but he wanted to check in on what they had learned about the… pooka egg golems.

"Yo, you 'wake?" He hopped in and looked around. Both beds were empty, and nothing appeared to have been moved since the two occupants had last been in there. After making sure Jack wasn't home, he turned and ran back down to the others.

"Wake up. Fey, Blake, Elliot. Let's go." He nudged them all, full on shoving Elliot out of his nest. "Jack didn't come home last night."

"Wh*yawn* at?" Fey rubbed her eyes and shook her head, long ears flapping everywhere.

"Jack. 'E didn't come home las' night. I think we should go see wha's up for ourselves." He grinned and hopped out of the cave, eager to show his friends the trick he'd taught himself.

Elliot groaned but put on his glasses and followed him, Fey right on his tail. Blake sighed and pushed himself up, trying to wake up fully. He hadn't gotten a while lot of sleep the night before, what with-, "Oomph." He grunted as he hit the dirt. His leg had just given out.

"Blake? You coming?" Fey reappeared in the doorway.

"Yeah." He replied, straightening up. "My leg's just asleep." Standing, this time without incident, he cleared his throat and followed her. He saw the look she sent him when she heard how thick his voice was, but offered her a reassuring smile. He was fine. And they had other things to worry about at the moment.

Yyyyy

"They don't look happy." North observed, gazing at all the golems. Their angry faces still made sure to follow Bunny wherever he went.

"I'd rather have them angry than risk them hurting the pooka. Besides, they're just enchanted stone guardians." Bunny sprang forward and caught an egg just as it was about to topple off a boulder.

"They are warriors. They guard pooka warriors in battle. I don't think they like having to just sit around all day." North waved the book he was flipping through to emphasize his point. Manny had been silent, so he and Sandy had raided his library for any and every book that so much as mentioned pooka. There hadn't been many, and none had said anything about pooka coming from golems.

Yyyyy

Walter, Fey, and Elliot raced through the tunnels as fast as they could go. They knew they had been sent home so the guardians could work in peace, but that didn't mean they weren't just as (or even more) curious to unravel the secrets behind the new pooka.

"I win!" Walter skidded to a stop and spun to see Elliot and Fey slow down right behind him. Elliot pouted while Fey ignored them both and hopped into the warren.

"Did you guys learn anything new?" She asked. The golems were mostly still in their nests, except for the one Bunny had first shown them. It was moving slowly through the sea of eggs, Bunny's watchful eyes never leaving it for a second.

"New? We learn lots of new things. Relevant, eh, not so much." North gestured emphatically at the stack of books he and Sandy had brought back.

"So we still don't know why pooka are in your golems? Well, did you find out if _we_ came from them?" Elliot poked the nearest one tentatively, immediately jumping back when it rotated to face him.

The guardians remained silent. They had no definitive answer to that, but it had been on all their minds. "At this point, all we can do is assume. I guess," Tooth looked at the others in uncertainty, "I guess it _is_ really likely, though."

Walter, still hanging back a ways, swiveled his head slowly to take in just how many golems there were. "Jus' how many more a' us do ya think there are?"

Nobody knew how to answer that. Bunny didn't want to think about it.

Yyyyy

Blake knew they weren't going to be looking for him. Not for a little while, at least. He lay on the tunnel ground, shaking and gasping. He had always been slower than the others, so he knew his presence wouldn't be missed. He knew he was too far away to be heard, that nobody was coming, but that didn't mean he couldn't hope. Hope that one of his friends, maybe even one of the guardians, would find him.

He coughed once, and then exhaled. It was too late. He knew that without turning around.

"Blake. It's time to go." Pitch materialized out of the shadows.

"I thought I still had time left." He tried as hard as he could to keep his voice even.

"I told you it would be soon." Pitch knelt down to the pooka's level, setting a hand on one thin shoulder.

"Can't," he swallowed thickly. This was too sudden. He hadn't been ready for this. "Can't I at least say goodbye?"

The king of darkness frowned. "I gave you time. You knew this was coming." He saw the hesitation, saw the kit look up the tunnel where his friends had disappeared. "Blake, you know how this works. It's now, _right_ now, or never. I've seen people chose never, and it never ends well. Trust me."

"Can… can you say goodbye for me, then?" Blake knew about the fight between Pitch and the guardians, but he was desperate. They needed to know that he hadn't _wanted_ to leave it at this. "Please." Try as he might, his eyes still misted over slightly.

Pitch squeezed his eyes and dropped his head, letting out a sigh. "Fine." He managed. "But we have to go now. I'll come back with your message." Holding out his hands, he helped Blake to his feet and led him through a rift in the wall. A rift that closed as soon as the pair was through it.

Yyyyy

I love Blake, and have been toying with the idea of just editing this part of the story out ever since I began posting this, but there are things that happen as a result of this and I just couldn't rewrite this whole thing as sappy happy. :(

Also, I have been wanting to give this story a cover image, so if anyone wants to draw Elliot and the gang, I would be SO grateful!

Anyway, what did you all think? Please tell me! Review! :3


	13. Chapter 13

Elliot leaned in closer, examining all the grooves carved into the golem's body. He was balancing on a boulder, being as careful as possible not to touch the giant stone egg.

"It doesn't look like there's anything to these carvings besides, well, how they appear. I'm not finding any hidden messages or images. If there's something out there that is actually going to tell us anything about them, I'd say it's not here."

The golem turned its face suddenly, surprising the precariously perched pooka and causing him to slip backwards off the rock. He landed on his back, glasses falling to the grass.

"Yeah, well, maybe there's _something_ here we can find." Fey called over from where she and Tooth were re-reading the books North and Sandy had brought back. Said pair was currently helping Bunny direct an endless wave of eggs towards different colored ponds, plants, and parts of the dye river. Walter and Jack were making their way around the surrounding walls, just in case there was something Bunny could have missed in his years living there. After seeing the Mural at the Tooth palace, and realizing they had struck out with other ideas, they had begun a search for one in the warren.

"I think I might have found something." Tooth leaned over and held out the book she was reading, pointing to a particular passage. "It seems that when the golems were created, they weren't just guards. Their directive is technically to 'protect the pooka species, and ensure its survival.' Bunny was the last of his kind, and a male at that-," she bit her lip at the confused and slightly embarrassed look her friend shot her.

"I don't really see how that's relevant."

It was her turn to shoot him a look. "Really? Anyway, what if this is their way of protecting the species?"

"This seems like something you'd know more about, Blake." Fey looked around for him, and then stood and swiveled her head. "Blake?"

Jack's face grew worried when they realized the small pooka was nowhere in sight. "I don't think I saw him come in with you. Are you sure he didn't stay home?"

"No. I remember he was right behind me. And besides, you know him. He's the most curious about what's going on here. He wouldn't just stay home." Elliot hopped over.

"He didn't." Blades and boomerangs, in addition to several other, improvised, weapons, were drawn. Pitch stood in the entrance to the cave the pooka had used when arriving. "He asked me to say goodbye for him." They couldn't tell if he hadn't seen their weapons pointed at him, or if he was just ignoring them.

"What did you do with him?" Fey threw herself down on all fours, fur raised and teeth bared.

Pitch somehow managed to look nervous and aloof at the same time. "I didn't do anything. Nature took its course, and I performed my duty."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Bunny asked, stepping between Fey and Pitch. If it came down to a fight, she wouldn't stand a chance.

"This has nothing to do with our personal past together." Pitch sighed after a moment. "I have a job I must fulfill just like the rest of you." With a wave of his arm, black sand melted out of the shadows and onto his cloak, quickly rising up it until it formed a dark hood. This new look caused some of the witnesses to gasp, recognizing the figure from lore and legends. Pitch continued, pointedly not summoning the iconic other piece of his ensemble. "He was born with a heart condition. Ageing, stress, his overall physical weakness, it all just became too much. I told him he wouldn't have long, but the stubborn boy didn't want to upset anyone. Not at a time like this."

"Pitch." North breathed, swords lowering slightly in shock. "What… are you?"

"I'm a guardian. People grow up and realize the harsh realities of this world. Cute fantasies like fairies and bunnies and old men giving gifts become just that; fantasies. But fear is something that you don't grow out of. Unfortunately, I am _not_ a guardian of childhood. People don't stop believing in me when they grow up, they just call me by a different name."

The warren was dead silent. Only the river and Tooth's wings could be heard. "You're the Grim Reaper." North growled, no trace of questioning in his voice.

Pitch lowered his head, whether in resignation of his other title, or affirmation that the swordsman was correct, they didn't know. "I gave him warning, told him his time was coming-,"

"No. No… he's not-," Jack swallowed hard and raised his staff threateningly. "Move. Get out of my way."

Pitch stepped aside and let Jack pass. Elliot followed, as did Walter and the others, until it was just North and Pitch. Alone in the huge room. "I don't kill. My job might not be as sunny and happy as yours, but I protect people jut as much as you-,"

 _"Don't_ try to paint yourself the hero. You are not one of us." North snarled in a very un-Santa-like manner.

"I didn't touch him until after he was gone. If you're the guardians, why did this happen? People die. I guide them to the afterlife, or they get stuck here for all eternity, just wandering spirits. And yet, while surrounded by the Big Five, Blake died. I'm no hero, I know that. But you're no child's guardian." He turned to leave, but paused before stepping through the shadow cast on the wall. "By the way, Blake asked me to tell his friends that he loved them. Pass the message on for me, will you?" And with that, he was gone.

North let out a shaky breath, swords falling to his sides. Shaking his head, he stuffed them into their sheathes and ran down the tunnel as fast as he could. It didn't matter. He was too late. They had all been too late. Blake lay crumpled on the ground, body cooling. He didn't react when Fey shook him, didn't offer reassurances when she whispered and then, growing more frantic, screamed, his name. He didn't comfort them when Walter managed to pry her off him, or when Elliot clutched Jack, tears staining the blue hoodie. He couldn't. He was dead.

Slowly, Bunny approached the small body, which suddenly seemed so much smaller, and reached out a paw. With a shaking breath, he slid it down over the black fur and closed the unseeing eyes. "Goodbye, Blake. I'm so sorry." It was all he managed to get out before the tears began to fall.

Yyyyy

I would really love to hear what you all thought of this! Please don't forget to review! :3


	14. Chapter 14

Jack let himself fall backwards against the rocky edge of the cliff. A light coating of snow had turned everything white in the time he'd been at the warren. He wished that was all that had changed.

The guardians had unanimously decided to cut their research session short and Jack had returned to the caves with the remaining kits. At the moment, they were together in their cave, mourning their loss. At least, that's what he thought until he heard soft footsteps approaching. Elliot rounded the corner of the trail, fur stained and slightly ruffled under his eyes.

"Jack?" He looked concerned, but his independent, stubborn nature was still trying to show through. "Would you like some company?"

"No." The frost guardian didn't hesitate. Didn't even turn around. Elliot made no move to walk closer.

"Jack… you shouldn't be alone. Blake-,"

"Maybe I should." The stones were beginning to hurt where they were digging through his thin clothes, but he didn't move. He didn't care to make himself comfortable at the moment.

"What?" Elliot's eyebrows drew together. "We all lost him. Not just you."

"That's not what I mean, Elliot." Jack sighed and stood back up, ghost pains shooting through his body where the rocks had been. He turned to face the pooka, face full of hopelessness. "I can't do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"This. All of… _this_. Elliot, I'm a winter spirit. A _spirit._ I _died_."

"I-I know that. The Man in the Moon got to you before you, I don't know, crossed over, and turned you into Jack Frost."

Jack looked away, gaze turned over the tops of the trees to the town below. "Exactly. I'm immortal. You-," He interrupted himself with a bitter laugh. "You're not. I've known that since I found you. I thought I'd be ready. You'd grow old and I'd have time to prepare myself." Elliot hadn't seen Jack this upset in a long time. If ever.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I made a mistake. You're getting older every day and I… I'm still fifteen. Or sixteen. However the hell old I was when I died." He grumbled and stepped towards the edge of the cliff.

"You think it was a mistake to take me in?" Elliot breathed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm saying it was a mistake to keep you. To get attached to you. I was just so sick of being alone." Like a security blanket, Jack clutched his staff tighter to his chest. "You could see me. It had been so long since someone actually saw me that I had started to doubt if I was even real." He grit his teeth and turned away from the terrified and confused pooka, not able to bear the sight of the other's expression. "I should have just given you to Bunny to start with."

"You, you wish you'd have sent me to live with _him_?" Elliot couldn't believe his ears. "He tried to kill you-,"

"Yes, he did. But he's the guardian of hope for a reason. The Man in the Moon didn't just choose him at random. We were all chosen for a reason. He's not a monster. He made a mistake, and you're looking to burn him alive for it."

"Jack, _why_ are you defending him? He's-,"

"Not as much of a monster as I am. Alright? I'm a winter spirit. I bring in _winter._ Things die around me." He leaned his head against his staff. "I don't know why I thought you would be any different."

"Jack-,"

"You know what North did for me?" Jack cut Elliot off. "He thought I was homeless and alone in the world, so he built a room just for me. And it's not just him. Tooth, Sandy, even Bunny. Ever since I became a guardian, they suddenly love me. I didn't exist to them when I was just a winter spirit, except as an annoyance."

"What are you talking about?" At this point, Elliot wasn't sure if Jack actually had a point, or if he was just aimlessly rambling. Shifting his staff to lean against his arm, Jack rubbed angrily at his eyes, surprising Elliot and scaring him a little. It was only then that he could see the tear tracks running down his cheeks.

"One day, you three will leave me as well. Maybe not through any choice of your own, but you aren't immortal. It's going to happen no matter what. The guardians, they're immortal. They won't ever stop being around, but what's to stop them from remembering _why_ they used to hate me? I mean, I'm a _winter_ spirit. Winter makes cars slide off the road, and forms icicles on roofs that fall if someone shuts the front door too hard."

"Winter isn't all bad-,"

"Winter kills any living thing that spends too much time out in it!" The tears hadn't stopped. If anything, they had increased. He had given up trying to wipe them away. They sat in silence, neither knowing what to say next. Elliot knew he couldn't tell Jack he was wrong. Winter _was_ a dangerous time of the year. And he had always known that, one day, his time would come. He couldn't just promise Jack that he would never leave and the guardians would never abandon him.

"Goodbye." Jack tried to even his breathing and took another step towards the edge of the cliff.

"What? Wait. Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Away. I'm done getting my hopes up. I… I can't lie to myself anymore. This isn't going to last forever and I'm just going to end up hurting when this is all over. You're going to be gone, North and the others won't want me around… I'm just-," he broke off with a sigh. "Elliot, I'm sorry, but I just can't do this anymore. Not when I know how it's going to end. And if this is selfishness on my part, then I think I deserve to be a little selfish after three hundred years." He swallowed thickly and jumped before Elliot had a chance to say anything else.

The wind caught him and, a minute later, he was completely out of sight. Over head, the full moon lit the cave where the lone pooka stood in silence, watching as the one who had been there his whole life as a protector and friend vanished among the scattered clouds.

Yyyyy

So, people have been asking about Jack and Bunny's relationship. The truth is, I dint know much more than you -_-; When I started writing this, I had planned for Bunny to have worked his way into Elliot's heart before now and have it be cute that Jack was still raising him, but Bunny was teaching him about how to be a pooka. Actually taking the outline ant trying to write it, though, I found that I just had them moving too fast to actually be plausible. And after 13 chapters, I kinda forgot that Jack and Bunny were the only characters I had listed.

Please tell me what you all thought of this chapter! Do you want Pitch to come back? Let me know! :3


	15. Chapter 15

Bunny opened an eye. He had just gotten to sleep, but something was nagging him. Something felt off about his warren, and he had a feeling that it was more than just the new grave. With little other option, they had elected to bury Blake's body in the warren, by some of the color-powder flowers.

Yawning, he hopped out of bed and raised his nose in the air, sniffing. With everyone who had been in his warren only a few hours prior, though, it was hard to tell which smells were new or old. Lowering himself back to the ground, he decided to start his search by the still-fresh mound of overturned dirt.

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"Fools. Every single last one of them." Jack whirled around, brandishing his staff. This was the last place he had expected to hear another voice. He had specifically come to Mt. Everest _because_ there would be nobody else. Other than the mournful wails on the wind that might have been mountaineers forever entombed in their last great attempt, or might have been just the wind itself, he had been alone in the silence.

"Who's there?" He spun slowly, foot brushing against a small cross half-buried by some successful mortal. He briefly wondered if whomever had left it ever regretted it; if they had needed it on the way down, or if they were just happy to have left it as their mark at the top of the world.

"They're going to die anyway, so why bother trying to challenge themselves? Even if what they achieve is remarkable enough to have them remembered, eventually they all just…" a sharp toed boot materialized through the mild blizzard that was blowing, kicking a puff of snow off the ledge and into space, disappearing almost immediately. "Nobody is remembered forever. And even if they are, history is always changing. Every time period has their own values, their own ways of seeing right and wrong, great and… vile."

Jack moved one foot back and hunched his shoulders, bracing for the oncoming fight. "Pitch."

Yyyyy

Elliot lay curled into a tight ball about ten feet from the grave. His eyes were shut, but Bunny could tell he wasn't asleep.

"What are you doing down here?" He whispered, not sure if the kit wanted to be alone with his friend. Or his memory.

Elliot stayed silent, and Bunny almost resigned himself to the fact that the kit wasn't going to answer. Just as he turned to walk away, though, Elliot's soft voice drifted over to his ears. "I don't want to go home."

"Why not?" Bunny crept closer, wanting to comfort him, but also very aware that this was the kit who openly hated him with a passion.

"Jack took off. He said he should have just dumped me on you when he first found me. That I'm just going to die and it was a mistake to get attached to me."

"He said what?" Bunny didn't think the day would ever come that he would see Jack, their Guardian of Fun, be the cause of so much distress in someone's eyes. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know. He said it was only a matter of time before we died and you all remembered why you hated him in the first place."

Yyyyy

Jack held the staff like a weapon, crook between himself and the bringer of death. Pitch didn't even pretend to care. He stood at the edge, directly in front of the winter spirit, hands clasped behind his back. "Humans really are such strange and fickle creatures. Give one a shack and he will live like a king, give another all the wealth and glory they want, and it's never enough. I've met them all. Several begging me for the miracle you call a curse, or even just a _little_ more time, others attempting to bargain or bribe."

"Bargain with death?" Jack remembered dying, and the thought had honestly never occurred to him. All he had had time to think about was weather he had thrown his sister far enough.

"I assume you've heard the tale of Rasputin?"

Jack just narrowed his eyes. "Do you have a point? Or are you just here to reminisce?"

"Blake wanted me to make sure you didn't do anything rash. It appears he knows you better than I gave him credit for."

"You're judging me?" Jack stepped back and set the bottom of his staff on the ground. "I just don't want to be hurt again. Is that so wrong?"

"No. But is this the right way to go about it? The only reason Blake's passing hurt you all so much is you loved him, and you knew how much he loved you. There are countless sayings, proverbs, quotes, fables, all asking which is worse? Experiencing something grand, such as love, and having it taken away, or going through life never knowing what it feels like."

"Pitch, I've had a family that I lost before. I went through much of my afterlife completely on my own. I was lonely, sure, but it didn't feel like this." Jack slid his hands into his hoodie pocket, fairly certain at this point that Pitch wasn't going to attack him.

"You forget, I'm one of the oldest guardians. As far back as humans go, well before the dark ages, they have needed fear to survive, and the Grim Reaper to guide them when they didn't. I figured that it would be easier to stop trying to know humans, to treat them like they were just a job, livestock. They were all going to die, especially if I were visiting them. What was the point, other than to torture myself? So I backed off in my duties as the Boogeyman, only interacted with them as little as possible when their time came."

"People stopped believing in you, and you got weak." Jack finished for him.

Pitch nodded stiffly. "It wasn't just that. People don't remember you if they don't have a reason to. After a while, solitude ceased being protection and became a prison. One I tried to break last year."

"You're saying that you waging war on us and killing Sandy was just a way for you to meet more people?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"I'm saying that I've been where you are. You get attached to someone and delude yourself into believing that they'll never leave, but when they do, when it's their time, you blame the world. Jack, I've spent centuries cursing the world all alone, and you saw what happened when I decided I'd had enough of it. When you isolate yourself like this, you need to be ready to accept that when you're done, life doesn't just go back to the way it was. The world moves on without you, and your place it either filled or erased. What used to be the most powerful and known being on the face of the earth has been reduced to…" he held up his hands, as if disappointed by what he saw. "this. A bedtime story parents halfheartedly tell children in a bid to get them to sleep. They'll forget you in no time."

Yyyyy

In either the next chapter or the one after that we will delve back into the action, but just bare with me until then on this roller coaster of feels! Tell me what you thought! Also, I have been trying to figure this out since I started the story, but am now getting desperate. Does anybody have any names they want to contribute? Please! I'm looking for a female name (maybe two. You'll see.) THANK YOU! Review! :3


	16. Chapter 16

Bunny lowered his head to rest on his paws. Elliot had fallen silent long ago and he didn't want to push the kit for more information about Jack's whereabouts. Chances were, he didn't know anything, anyway, but he was still going to have to drag the newest guardian's hind back home. Shifting his weight so that his back paws were next to him, he closed his eyes. Did Jack really think they were eventually going to get tired of him, like he was some toy? Did he think they only liked him because the Man in the Moon had told them to? They had all seen him during the battle with Pitch, had seen him put himself in danger, throw himself at the enemy with little to no thought of his own safety. And now that they learned that he had a family waiting for him at home, his bravery in the battle became that much more pronounced.

"Bunny?" Elliot's voice was raspy and quiet, as if he wasn't sure he wanted the other to hear him or not.

"What is it?" Bunny replied.

Elliot was curled up tightly, facing pointedly away from both Bunny and the grave. "I hate what you did to Jack." His eyes flickered towards the elder pooka's briefly, before he turned his gaze to his paws. "I… I don't think I hate you, though. Something about Jack changed that day. I know it's horrible, but, I think a part of him was kind of glad you… well, did what you did."

"Back in 1968, you mean?" Bunny had no idea how attacking Jack could possibly make him glad.

"Before you did that, the only one who ever gave him any confirmation that he was real was me, and I'm someone who people don't believe in. I was the only one who ever saw Jack, and he was the only one who ever saw me. That messes with a person's head. I always thought it was strange how he'd scold me for telling the others you were evil."

Bunny shook his head slowly. "The more I hear about his past, the more I just, I don't know. I never thought he was _that_ alone."

They sat near each other for a while longer, the silence enveloping them as they both followed their respective trains of thought. In the end, it was once again Elliot who broke it.

"I don't think I'm ever going to forgive you for what you did, but I'd like to try to move past it. I sort of understand why you did it. It hurts to be forgotten, especially after all the work you did."

"It doesn't excuse my actions, though."

"No, it doesn't." Elliot bit his lip, realizing his tone had been a bit sharp. "But it was a long time ago. And I guess we could try starting over."

Bunny smiled and pushed himself off the ground, walking over to the young kit. "I'd like that, very much."

Elliot stood and pulled his glasses out of his backpack before reaching out his paw. "Hello."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny."

"And I'm Elliot Frost. Nice to meet you, too."

The two furry paws met, this time with no violence, and clasped each other warmly. There was still a slight hesitation on Elliot's part, old fears that would never be erased completely, but Bunny knew it was progress. Now if he could just make this kind of progress with Jack.

Yyyyy

Short filler/transitioning chapter, but it was needed for my next chapter to flow right. I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know! Next chapter is the one we (or at least _I_ ) have been waiting for and I hope to see you all there. Review! :3


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